Wolf V Shark: A ScandalDamages Crossover
by DavidB226Morris
Summary: Summary: What if David Rosen, while investigating the Cytron affair, came to the conclusion that it was too big for him? What if he decided that the only way to fight a wolf is with a shark? What if that shark was Patty Hewes?
1. A Wet Dream For Rush Limbaugh

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Chapter 1: _A Wet Dream for Rush Limbaugh_

_Georgetown_

_Not for the first time, James Novak found himself waking up alone. Either Cyrus had spent last night in the West Wing, or he had decided yet again to spend the night at the Hotel Baltimore. The sad truth was, the more time passed, James was having a hard time caring. It was beginning to seem that their marriage would be yet another victim of the Grant Administration's rigorous attempt to maintain business as usual in the face of reality._

_Even worse, James was finding it difficult to care about either. The more he investigated, the more he realized how much blood was on Cyrus Beale's hands. So much that he didn't think they'd ever been clean. What did that say about him, an investigative journalist who'd once been short listed for the Pulitzer, that he hadn't been able to see what was in front of his face for so long?_

Oh well, _he thought sourly, _there's a bright side. This way the extreme right _will _be able to say that gay marriage is just like heterosexual marriage. It can splinter and fall apart just as easily.

_As he tried to finish his morning coffee. James found himself changing the channel to CNN. Naturally, they had turned right to the news that they didn't want to hear, the story that would destroy the country as easily as it was eating away at his marriage. The usual talking heads were discussing whether or not anything had changed in the last three hours since they had assembled to discuss the exact same subject. The fact that nothing had didn't stop Anderson Cooper from asking more details from his panel of so-called experts. the ones from the right said that all this was meaningless slander, the ones on the left said that this was chickens coming home to roost, and of course, the same three words seemed to end every other sentence_

_Articles of Impeachment._

_None of this was going to have a happy ending. The fact that James was one of a handful of people to know at least a smidgen of the truth didn't make him feel any better or any more glad that he was going to have a front row seat at White House Press Corps in little more than an hour. He knew exactly what questions he would have to ask, which didn't make him feel like a million bucks. He took no pleasure in what his country was going to have to go through._

_Just then, his cell rang. No doubt it was his editor making sure he was up, ready to lunge for the story, like every other vulture._

_Except it wasn't. It was the D.C Police._

_"Is this James Novak?" After he acknowledged as much, the rough voice on the other end identified himself as Sergeant Walsh, Homicide._

_"What does this have to do with me? I'm not a police reporter."_

_The sergeant seemed tentative, unusual for a homicide cop at this time of day. "Mr. Novak, we'd appreciate if you could come down to 3 Police Plaza as soon as possibly could."_

_Ignoring the sinking feeling that was starting in his gut, he told the police that unless they were planning on putting bracelets around his wrists, he had no intention of talking to them. "Not unless you stop dicking around."_

_Sounding as weary as he felt, Sgt. Walsh finally caved. "We need your held IDing a body."_

6 Months Earlier

If our destinies really are determined by the most minute of details, David Rosen's was sealed after Abby left his apartment so enraged that she banged into his end table in her hurry to get out.

David had been planning chase after her, defend his actions, explain why the accusations of rape and assault were trumped up charges, that it was a million years ago, that it had nothing to do with their present situation. But when Abby slammed into his end table, one of the bobbleheads that had been on there for so long that David could no longer remember how long ago he had gotten, hit the floor, and fell apart. David knocked his foot against it, and saw what was inside it.

David was not a techno geek- he had trouble enough programming his DVR- but it didn't take much imagination for him to realize that what he was looking at was a miniature listening device. If he had been paranoid before about where his investigation into Olivia Pope had taken him before, he realized the implications of this the moment he saw it. He was tempted to grab it, run down the hallway, stop Abby, and tell her that this proved that they were on the right. His next impulse was grab it up, and run over to Olivia, and tell her to stop playing these games.

What stopped him from following those baser reactions was something that he couldn't explain- except that he put two and two together. Abby worked for Olivia. Olivia protected the hell out of her people- so she had set fire to her and David's relationship in some twisted version of protecting her. Which made him consider something he hadn't wanted to consider but now thought that he had too- could she have staged this relationship in the first place and Abby's reaction was part of a greater act, now that he was closing in on the truth?

_Truth about what? You have no clear idea what 'Perkins' links to Cytron is, you don't know who else is involved, and your last source gave you a dead end. The only think that you know is that someone very big is involved._

He was picking up the phone to dial his office, call somebody to help him, when another strike of no longer quite extreme paranoid thought struck him. _They've bugged your home, maybe they're bugging your phones, too? _ Which made him wonder: _Could someone at my office be involved? Why else would they be so insistent that you get your job back only if you drop your investigation?_

This was the world of lunacy, of conspiracy nuts on the net saying that Hilary had had Foster killed, that Tony Blair had been a plant for the CIA, it was a world of madness- and every time he tried to dismiss that thought, he looked at the bobbleheads. Lunacy was selling short today.

He needed to do _something, _there had to be some way to go on the offensive, and confrontation wouldn't work- Olivia Pope was the master of dodging salient question. But what?

Without consciously thinking of it, he found himself placing the bug back into the bobblehead, and putting it back together. He didn't know whether whoever placed this device would be back in his apartment, he didn't know whether they would see through his ruse, but suddenly proving his point to Abby seemed the greater risk.

Then he walked out of his apartment, and headed to his nearest Sprint store. David wanted to talk to somebody with experience with this kind of bullshit, so he wanted to make his next call on a phone that he could trust.

After Harrison saw Abby leave, he felt a bitter pang overcoming him. He knew it couldn't be his conscience- that thing had been sold along with his soul years ago. However, the fact that he had sold out a friend's chance at happiness didn't exactly fill him with joy. That was why, after he called Olivia and told her the David Rosen situation had been handled, it took him a couple of minutes to find the will to get moving. That was the only reason he saw David walk out of his apartment, and head with determination towards his car.

Harrison would've ignored it, except that David did something not in the script once he reached his vehicle- he stopped and started walking down the street. In D.C. At night. In December.

He didn't know David Rosen any better than anyone else, but he had been in the arena long enough to recognize someone who was genuinely spooked. Something had happened in that apartment besides the end of his relationship with Abby.

For the first time, he wished Huck was handling this assignment instead of him. Huck could track a man for days without coming up for air. David might not have all the answers, but he could figure out he was being followed by the most conspicuous black man in D.C.

So rather then follow the man whose relationship he had helped dynamite, Harrison decided to go back to his apartment. He felt shitty enough as it was, he didn't need to stalk him. So he didn't follow Rosen or tell Olivia what had just happened.

It would be a decision that he would have cause to replay over and over the next few weeks, and even given the enormous consequences, he couldn't find himself regretting his decision.

"You're right that something smells funny, David, but you don't have enough evidence to drag anybody into court."

"I work for the Justice Department, we've been given pretty much a blank check for this, but the fact is I have reached the limits of my resources. I need someone else to take up the charge."

"Bureau's not going to get involved; you don't have enough for that-"

"That's not why I called you." Now came the part that David really didn't want to follow through with. "The law firm that your brother worked for."

"_No. _Christ, that woman is just short of Satan Himself."

"What was that quote by Churchill? To defeat evil itself, I would take help from the devil.' I think that's where I am right now."

"You've seen what this woman does to the people she fights against? What you're asking could grind the government into the dirt!"

"I'm not asking for permission, Maggie. I'm asking for her address."

"You're not going to just _call _her?"

"Technically, I'm still on administrative leave. I think I can afford to spend a few days in New York. Besides, face to face she's less likely to reject me."

There was a bitter laugh on the other end. "There's no telling what that bitch is capable of."

"You have a good reasons for hating her. So do I, strictly speaking. But even you have to admit this is the kind of case she'd jump on."

"All I'm saying is that you'd better be absolutely sure of this, David. "

"Believe me, I'm sure."

"Hewes and Associates is on the Upper East Side. Eighty-First and Lexington. It's hard to miss the place," Maggie Shayes told him. "Sometimes, I wish I'd never heard of it."

David was not an idiot. He went back to his apartment on got everything he had managed to put together on Cytron over the past couple of months. Then he spent nearly half an hour on Lexus, making sure he knew everything he could get on Patty Hewes over the last few years. He'd go over the rest on the midnight train to New York

He was pretty sure that his office had investigated Hewes more than once over the past decade, but the woman was more Teflon than Reagan in his heyday. There was a very good chance that he could make a good presentation to her, and still she'd tell him to take a fucking leap. The fact that he worked with Justice would cut zero ice with her - she was prominent for criticizing the government no matter which party was in power.

As he looked over at the major cases that she had been investigating the past three years, he began to get a hint of what Maggie Shayes was talking about. She tilted at windmills most lawyers wouldn't even run towards - titans of industry, energy magnates, corrupt investment bankers - and she had prevailed every time. She didn't seem to mind the collateral damage to her and just about everybody around here. Her marriage had ended in a shambles, her teenage son had disappeared of the face of the earth a year ago, and a lot of the people who had worked with her over the years had ended up dead. Small wonder Maggie didn't want him going anywhere near her.

For the first time since Quinn Perkins's case had been dismissed, David considered the possibility that he might end up dead. The fact that they were tapping his apartment meant that they considered him a risk; doing this might lead to him simply being disappeared. He didn't think Olivia was that cold, but the people she worked with- whoever they were- they probably figured it might be easier to end his life. Maybe the higher-up didn't just want him to end his involvement on this case because of his reputation there.

Maybe it was a warning.

He considered it for several minutes. Just dropping the whole thing, and going back to work the next day, Cytron far from his mind. Then his eye fell on the bobblehead.

_Fuck that_, he thought to himself. _I'm going to see this through. One way or the other._

_Novak had never worked the police beat for the Post, and even though DC had one of the highest homicide rates and lowest closure rates in the entire country, he had stuck with paper's position that Washington the epitome of charming and collegial. But while he had often seen the seamy side of the political underbelly, he had never seen the criminal side, until now. _

_He couldn't figure out why the DC police would need him to ID a body. Cyrus was the closest thing he had to family in the capital (the rest of the Novak clan was scattered throughout New England), and while he had his share of shady sources, all of them were only morally bankrupt, not criminal.. Who did he know who could've ended up dead?_

_Having never been here. he honestly didn't expect to recognize anybody. But when he entered the building, he did see a familiar face. Only it wasn't anyone from this police station._

_"Wes?" he asked slowly. _

_It was indeed Wes Krulik. Over the past couple of months, when what was probably going to be the story of the decade was starting to unfold, he had become familiar with the man. Ex-NYPD, Krulik had gone into private security a couple of years earlier. That was the term _he _used, but James hadn't been born yesterday. He knew Wes was a security man for Ellen Parsons, and if Ellen Parsons had called him in, that meant somehow Patty Hewes was at the bottom of this little rendezvous._

_"I'm sorry you got called into this, Mr. Novak," Krulik said with that mix of Western drawl and Manhattan, "but there aren't a lot of people in this city that I trust."_

_This was bullshit, of course. If there was one thing James knew, it was that paranoia ran rampant among Patty Hewes' people, with trust playing a distant second before necessity. The only reason you were let into anybody's confidence was to how useful that person could be before you were discarded. That was the only reason that he had been allowed this close to what was unfolding._

_"Don't tell me you're the reason the cops turned to a hated reporter instead of one of their former brothers in blue," he told him cynically. Krulik shrugged._

_"My reputation only goes as far as the state of New York," he told him. "You know who were deposing today."_

_Maybe he was still having trouble shaking the sleep out of his eyes, but suddenly James Novak began to put two and two together. "You're saying it's about him?"_

_"He's not in his apartment, and he's not answering any of the numbers we have for him," Krulik admitted. "I know that there are easier ways to find him than this, but right now, we'd rather have local law enforcement involved than federal."_

_Given the stakes, James wasn't sure he could blame him. "I was called here because they said-"_

_ "And that's why you are here," Krulik told him, "but until we actually have proof of death, I think we damn well better keep quiet about as much of this as possible." His eyes flicked ahead. "For the immediate future, at least."_

_James turned around to see two cops walking towards him "Mr. Novak, I'm Sgt. Oscar Walsh with Homicide, this is Detective Macevoy," the larger one identified himself. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."_

_"You said that you needed my help identifying a body," he told them flatly. "But you didn't give me much information as to why."_

_The two cops exchanged glances. "Sir, there's a procedure for these things-" Sgt. Walsh began_

_James held up his hand. "I realize you've got a long day ahead of you. So have I. I think we'd all be better served by cutting the bullshit, and getting down to business. So why am I here?"_

_"Late last night, one of the harbor units fished a body out of the Potomac," Walsh told him. "Been in the river at least a day, but the decomp seems to have eroded his face and his hands. No wallet, no ID. It looks like some kind of mob hit, but then we fished this out of his pocket."_

_He handed him an evidence bag with a business card in it. The water had done some damage to the ink, but _JAMES NOVAK, Washington Post _was still legible._

_"That's why you called me. Why did you call him?" James spoke brusquely to try not to reveal how shaky he felt seeing his card returned to him in that matter._

_"We didn't" The detective spoke up for the first time. "But he was the only person who answered when we called this number."_

_The detective removed another baggie with yet another business card in it. This one was even more damaged, but the writing was still legible. _ELLEN PARSONS, HEWES & ASSOCIATES.

When she had been first hired at Hewes and Associates, Ellen Parsons had been given a very specific list of guidelines for how to handle things at her office by Tom: Don't put out any personal touches, certainly nothing involving family or loved ones, don't bring in a lot of stuff, not more than you can bring out in a single box when she fires you. That had been the underlying threat that had been implied: _when. _Patty will use you up, and throw you out when she's done with you.

Well, she'd come back to these offices after being let go not once, but twice, and she still hadn't changed things much. There were, if anything, fewer photographs then there had been when she'd first arrived three years ago. A picture of her late fiancé, David Conner, was still very prominent. She'd kept it here as a reminder, though whether that reminder was symbolic for her or Patty, she didn't know even now. There were a few family photos, but considering how little contact she'd had with her sister, or the people who she thought had been her parents over the past few months, she wondered even if they had any meaning for her.

Her parents had never understood why she was still here, after all the torture and bloodshed that had filled their lives because of Patty Hewes. For that matter, Ellen wasn't sure why she had come back, considering that at least twice she had left her determined never to set foot in the place that had emotionally scarred her. Maybe it was out of loyalty to Tom, who even though he'd been used by Patty as much, if not more, as so many of the other people in her life, deserved someone here to carry out his legacy. Or maybe it was because she had seen so many of the emotional wounds that her employer was dealing with- the implosion of her marriage, the disappearance of her very troubled son, the day after Tom was found dead, trying to raise her granddaughter, knowing full well how deeply she had failed as a mother before.

Certainly she hadn't formed much of a connection with anyone else at this firm before or since she had rejoined. Everybody figured she was still the fair-haired girl considering that she had somehow survived her experiences. And Patty did seem to turn to her on occasion, but Ellen knew better than to think it was out of any personal connection. It was because she was the only one left.

The thing was, Ellen wasn't alone . She had made connections on the outside during the year she had worked for the city. Most of them were there, because of her, not Patty. And even though she was still heading the firm, there was talk (most of it behind her back) that Hewes had gotten softer ever since Tom had died, that raising a child had tamed her a little.

Ellen knew this was not the case. Ever since Tom had been murdered, Patty had grown a little more circumspect in what cases she had taken. There hadn't been a case as meaty as the Frobisher or the Tobins for awhile. Patty seemed to be waiting for one to come to her rather then searching them out.

Just then, Patty appeared. She still did what she had been doing ever since they had met almost three years ago, popping in and out of her associates offices, making sure that things were up to her code. But some of the vitality that had been in her all those years ago seemed... sapped for awhile. For the first time, Patty Hewes was looking her age.

"I took a look at those listings for those PIs you gave me," Patty told her. "Frankly, I'm amazed that Mr. Krulik agreed to sit for an interview at all."

"The pay is four times what he makes for the state," Ellen pointed out "And we live in the most expensive city in the country. In his own way, Wes has been as pragmatic as all of us."

"That's the only reason he agreed to it?" Patty asked.

"Wes and I have decided to remain friends. We realize it would be foolish to try to be anything else."

Patty considered this. "That's very sensible of you. One can't afford to make too many attachments."

_I'm not you. _Ellen didn't say this because she was afraid of hurting Patty's feelings. She wasn't cold enough to think that they weren't there, because she knew otherwise. But she knew her boss well enough not to suggest otherwise.

"We have a visitor coming it at 2:00. Man from the Justice Department thinks he has a case for us."

Ellen knew this was a big deal. Patty usually took clients one on one. "This official business?" she asked.

"He wouldn't tell us over the phone." This was significant. Hewes & Associates didn't take clients off the streets.

"Why are we even giving him the courtesy of listening?" she asked.

"He's an old friend of Tom's. Besides, it's not good business to ignore Justice when they show up on your doorstep. It sets a bad precedent. We'll give him half an hour."

"You're not even interested?"

"I don't take things second hand."

Olivia Pope was in the process of trying to extricate a junior Congressman from Alabama being caught in a motel room with a woman who wasn't his wife- bad enough, but the woman was a socialite married to the senior senator from Georgia. The two men were on opposite ends of the political spectrum, and Harrison had already had to break up two potential fistfights. Both gentlemen were members of opposing political parties, which meant that no matter how the media spun did, someone's ass was going to get reamed, and neither of her clients wanted it to be them

On top of this, Abby was walking around looking severely deflated Harrison was having trouble looking her in the eyes, and Quinn had been shooting dirty looks at Huck every five minute for the last three days.. It was, all things considered, a light day for Olivia, but the last thing she needed was a distraction. And hearing from the man she'd paid to have David Rosen's house wired for sound was definitely that.

"What do you mean, you think they found the bug?" she told the person whose real name she didn't know.

"At 10:53 p.m., Mr. Rosen arrived at his house. Five minutes later, a woman stormed out in some distress." Olivia tried to ignore this particular statement. "For a period of one minute, thirty seven seconds, we lost audio on transmitter one. When it was restored, Mr. Rosen left his apartment for approximately twenty-nine minutes."

"Where did he go?" she asked.

The man gave an awkward pause. "Miss Pope, your orders were very specific. Apartment and telephones monitored, GPS in his vehicle. Beyond we have no further instructions at your order."

"So you have no record of where he was?" Olivia hoped like hell Hollis or Cyrus didn't have any surveillance on Rosen as well, because the last thing they needed to know right now was that she had taken her eye off the ball. "What about his job? Did he take the offer from Justice?"

"We're not certain. According to his office, he was taking a couple of personal days to think over his decision."

Warning bells were going off in Olivia's head. The last time David had taken personal days, Abby had helped guide him back to the path he had been about to vacate. Abby was no longer in the picture, but there was no telling whether she had led him one last trail before breaking up with him.

"Do you have any idea where he is right now?"

"Activity on his credit card says that he bought a train ticket to New York late last night. "

New York was definitely the wrong direction for this particular story, but David didn't have family or friends there, and if he was going to the media, well, even the _Times _was online now.

Just to make things more fun, her phone rang. "What are you going to do about the no longer quite so distinguished gentleman from Alabama?"

Typical Cyrus, breaking in on matters that didn't concern him without even breathing for an explanation. "You don't need to sound so smug."

"This is the same guy who every time DOMA comes up for renewal gives three hours on the sanctity of the institution of marriage. I'm just glad to see that chickens occasionally come home to roost."

"That's a striking lack of concern from a member of your own party, Cyrus."

"Please; the guys an empty suit. He barely survived his last primary challenge; this could make sure he doesn't survive the next one. Understandably, the White House would be more inclined to deal with someone less... repressed."

Cyrus didn't mess with her business unless he had a higher purpose in mind. "What is this really about?"

The false cheer disappeared from Cyrus' voice. "I had another call from our friend from Ohio," he told her. "He needed reassurances that the situation with David Rosen had been handled."

"I said it's under control," Olivia's tone got harder.

So did Cyrus'. "Then what's he doing in New York? " So much for that particular hope.

"The Nationals are playing the Mets, and he wanted to see RA Dickey pitch. How the hell should I know? And by the way, I told you I was handling this, so why are his people following him?"

"Since when have any of us been able to tell Hollis what to do?" Cyrus reminded her. "Olivia, I'm doing my best to handle them, but you know what he's like. If this situation comes back to us-"

Olivia's client had just taken a swing at Harrison. "We're working on different branches of the government. You handle your issues, and I'll handle mine." She cut Cyrus off, and went back to her conversation with sound man. "Get eyes on David. Get them on him now"

David had made a calm, succinct, and orderly presentation which, considering how outlandish some of the theories were, was nothing short of remarkable. Hewes and Parsons had listened very politely, and had asked very few questions. From their tone and behavior, it seemed that they were listening to him.

But David Rosen had spent the past sixteen years examining the faces of witnesses and juries, and he knew what this all added up to. Patty Hewes had been looking at both twice as long, but he could still read the words NO SALE on her face. This was nothing more than courtesy, which in itself was surprising considering that she was notorious for having none with just about everybody else..

"So just to be clear, you believe that Olivia Pope is somehow behind a plan that allowed a women who committed multiple homicides walk away from her crimes, because this somehow connects to an energy company fraud." Patty Hewes told him. "This sounds like a very juicy case, and I'm surprised that Justice hasn't jumped at the chance to prosecute."

The traditional withering sarcasm. "The conditions of getting my job were based on the insistence that I cease investigating this case," he told her.

"And I suppose that this is part of the same conspiracy."

"For all I know, the Attorney General himself is one of the people pulling the strings," David went on doggedly. "I don't know who else would have the power to convince a federal judge to dismiss my case, absent any kind of defense."

"Mr. Rosen, you do understand the kind of cases that I take on," she replied calmly.. "I'm a civil practitioner. The kind of justice you want will not come from any kind of lawsuit that I were to bring against... well, you haven't even told me who you would recommend suing."

This was a procedural point that just about any other lawyer worth a damn would have mentioned. "It would be difficult, but I believe you could start with Olivia herself. I may not be certain of anybody else, but I am convinced that she is involved in conspiring to cover it up. And if Olivia's involved, any one of her clients- which could be just about anyone officially or unofficially connected with the government - is likely to be involved. As your investigation progressed, I'm certain you could put names to some of these people with far more certainty then I could."

Patty seemed to consider this for a couple of beats. "I'll admit that's a workable strategy, but there are any number of attorneys in the Beltway who would be more than willing to jump at the chance. And yet for some reason, you bypassed all of them to come to a complete stranger. Do you know what that sounds like, Mr. Rosen?"

David knew this was something of an insult. "My immense confidence in your abilities?"

"It's sounds like you're trying to dump an orphan on someone who has spent her entire life picking up strays."

David swallowed. "I've heard you called a lot of things, by people both on the right and the left, but den mother was never one of the nouns used," he told her with false cheer.

"They do call me a mother on occasion, but it's usually paired with another word." Hewes smiles, but it never reached her eyes. David knew that he was looking at the public side of a very private person.

"Miss Hewes, these people are bugging my apartment. That would seem to suggest that there's something to it, doesn't it?" David was trying to be patient, but he couldn't help note a little desperation was sneaking into his voice.

"That is indicative of something," Patty admitted, "but that would seem to be a problem that your department is fitted to handle. Why not come to them with this?"

"Aside from the possibility that somebody from my office might be the one responsible?" David told her. "Miss Hewes, over the last few months, I've been deserted by a lot of people. People that, until recently, I believed were good friends. And when can't have faith in your friends, and you don't know who your enemies are, the only people you can trust are strangers."

Patty seemed to consider this for a few moments. "There's definitely some truth in that," she admitted, "but you managed to get this appointment by using a contact of someone who once was practically family to me.. And as you must be well aware, the government has launched investigations into both me and my firm several times over the past twenty years."

There was no point in denying this. David had seen the files himself a couple of years ago, when the previous administration had been less inclined to regard Patty as a patriot. "This is not one of those times, I assure you."

"Convince me, Mr. Rosen."

_What the fuck_, he thought. _Total candor is one of the few things that this woman respects._

_"_Miss Hewes, Maggie Shayes gave me your number. I had to practically beg her to give it to me." he started. "Do you know why?"

The facade flickered for the briefest of moments. "I can imagine that Maggie doesn't think very highly of me."

"She believes you killed her brother." This did get a reaction, but from Parsons, who up until now hadn't said anything. "Oh, she knows that Louis Tobin killed him, but she's certain that you put his body in front of the knife more than any other person. But the fact of the matter is, even if Tom Shayes was still alive, it would have taken just as much of an effort for me to come here in the first place."

No reaction. "Miss Hewes, I've had the misfortune of arguing cases against some of the scummiest, dirtiest, corrupt and morally bankrupt attorneys that have ever graduated from mail-order law schools. I'd still rather deal with them than with you. In DC, attorneys will do anything possible to get their client off, rules be damned, sanctity be damned, the law be damned. The ends totally justify the means. But at least with them, I can understand why they do what they do." He looked at her. "I can't understand what motivates you. You've won dozens of high-profile cases, you've embraced every good cause under the sun, the world thinks that the sun rises and sets on Patty Hewes. But with you, it's not about doing the right thing. It's not about getting the best result for your client. I don't even think its about winning or losing. It's about total destruction of anyone who gets in your way. Stabbing and cutting until there isn't a spark of life in the body any more.."

"Then why are you in this office if you find me so repugnant?" Patty's voice wasn't angry, if anything, she just sounded curious.

"I believe the people who Olivia Pope and whoever she's protecting have utterly and totally corrupted justice, and will not think twice, or even once, about killing whoever gets in their way." A smile appeared on David's face. It was not a pleasant one. "These people deserve to be eviscerated. They deserve to be bombed into the Stone Age. The traditional law, the law I have practiced and sworn to defend, will not touch these people. But the kind of law you practice..." He trailed off. "I need a shark. Are you that shark?"

Patty didn't answer. David was surprised to find he didn't care. "Well, I've done my shtick, and you've been reasonable. I hope I'll hear from you, one way or the other."

"You don't intend to even try anyone else?" Parsons was speaking for the first time.

"It's not like there's anyone else out there that can strike fear into the hearts of DC. One last thing, though, then I am out of your hair," David began picking up some of his stuff, "I took a certain amount of precautions getting here, but I can't say with any degree of certainty that I haven't been followed. So watch out for any strange calls, and I'd be prepared for one fuck of an audit in the not too distant future."

"Leave me the trial transcript," Parsons told him

"Why? You want to grade my penmanship?" David told her bluntly. "Fine. " He took out a pen. "This is my new cell. I'm relatively sure they're not tapping the line. Call me. Don't call me. Entirely up to you."

But apparently he'd reached some decision in his head, because he left the transcript there.

The man who Cyrus Beene only knew as Charley' called him later that day. "I've backtracked Mr. Rosen's step to Grand Central, and to a cabbie who took him to downtown Manhattan. He asked to be let out in the middle of the East Side rather than any particular address. I've been working on tracking his exact movements, but there's any number of people he could've come to see or talked with."

"Do you believe Rosen's onto you?" Cyrus demanded.

"He hasn't seen me if that's what you're concerned about," Charley told him, "but I think that he's got suspicions if he didn't use his car last night, and he's paying cash for everything."

"That's all we need," Cyrus muttered.

"Look, Sir, I did this out of respect for our history, but this penny ante shit is a waste of my time and talent," The man who had already committed one murder for Cyrus spoke slowly. "Unless you want to accelerate the process."

Hollis Doyle had made his opinions of the situation abundantly clear the last time they had been in the same room, but as big a nusiance as Rosen was at the moment, he was ready to burn that bridge yet. "Find out where he spent his afternoon, and come back to DC," he told him. "This may be a situation that can be handled more with the carrot than the stick."

Ellen had been going over the transcript for the last few hours, looking for whatever loophole in the law had been done for Perkins' attorney to ask for a dismissal without presenting a defense. She hadn't considered criminal law since graduating, but the fact was the late Melvin Belli wouldn't have been taken seriously had he tried such a backdoor maneuver. Rosen had argued one of the most airtight cases, but even a far weaker attorney would have had a hard time losing a conviction with the evidence before him.

It would certainly seem that someone had been Quinn Perkins, a.k.a 'Elizabeth Mason's rabbi, and considering who she was working for, that could be someone very high up the political ladder. These kinds of strings were pulled for the children of congressmen over carrying an ounce of cocaine during spring break, not being responsible for a bombing that had killed seven people.

Patty had been willing to let her read the transcript and see if there was any room for doubt on Rosen's part, but she had been standing firm on the principle that she had no intention of taking over a case she still considered 'a dog.' Ellen had thought otherwise, and had slipped Rosen her business card before he had left the building, not that she thought he would use it. He'd come here seeking Patty Hewes' help. Anything else would be a disappointment.

"I thought you left the city 'cause you hated the paperwork."

There was a voice she hadn't heard in nearly six months. "Wes!," Ellen said, looking up "I didn't think your final interview was for another week."

Wes Krulik hadn't changed much in the last few months, but he looked out of place in the suit he was wearing. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you before I got my final sitdown," he told her. "I hoped to get an honest answer from you."

"You want to know why I'm working for Patty again," she cut to the chase.

"Considering the last time, it ending with you pointing a gun at her, I figure it's a fair question for someone who's licensed to carry one."

Here was a chance to make the argument she'd been circling around with over the last few months. "I'll admit from what I said you must have thought Patty was the devil herself."

"At the time, I was being paid to think that way, yes," Wes was a lot more honest about what had been an awkward situation between them when they had first met.

"I wanted to see Patty dead at one point," she told him frankly. "But then I saw what kind of place the rest of the world is. There is no pure black or white, just dull gray. She's trying to do the right thing for her clients, whatever the cost. That's better than most."

Wes considered this. 'I suppose I should be arguing that's just another load of bullshit, but considering how some of my past employers have been, I'm not really in a position to throw stones."

"So are you really just doing this for the money?" Ellen hadn't felt anything romantic towards Wes in a very long time, but she felt lonely same as everybody else.

Wes considered this for a moment, but before he could answer, Patty entered the office. "Mr. Krulik, I didn't realize you were prepping for your interview already."

"Just wanted to get a look of the lay of the land," Wes replied.

Patty looked at Ellen. "I'm sorry to put you through this, Ellen, but, as you know I'm between nannies at the moment. Something's come up and I need you to watch Andrew for the next ninety minutes."

Normally, an associate would've been pissed off to get handed the job watching the boss' kid, especially considering how high the turnover rate was with Patty's caregivers. But Ellen knew that she was being asked because she was the only person her boss trusted with her flesh and blood. "I can find the time. Is there anything I need to know about?"

"Someone from the New York chapter of the DNC. Probably want to hit me up for a fundraiser."

Patty had already been hit up by the Governor's Mansion, three different candidates for Mayor, and half a dozen politicos from the State Assembly, Senate and District Attorney's office. And considering that the primary season was still over four months away, she expected that a lot of people would be asking for her time and money, and she had started to become familiar with half of the elected officials in the state.

But it still came as something of a mild surprise when she saw that the visitor was in fact the Chairman for the New York DNC, someone whom she had known when she had been clerking for the State Supreme Court twenty-eight years and who had spent the last few years doing his damnedest to avoid all social contact with her.

"Nathan." she told him. "Your office didn't tell me I was meeting with you."

"I asked them not to let it get out," Nathan told her with the typical politician's smile on his face. "Considering our history, I need to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."

Patty could've mentioned a half-dozen opportunities in the last election cycle, most notably when Elliot Spitzer had been raked over the coals, where he'd flagrantly bent his own rules. But she held her tongue, as she was a little curiously why Nathan was meeting with her.

"Well, I'm interested why you'd go to all this trouble to set up a meeting."

"I know you appreciate honesty, so I'll get straight to the point. Reardon in the tenth made it clear that this will be his last term." Howard Reardon was one of the few conservatives in the New York delegation. The DNC had been trying to unseat him for the last three elections, and kept coming maddeningly close, but ultimately losing all of their elections- the last one had taken two recounts before Reardon had emerged victorious. "Considering how much trouble we had last time, we want to put the strongest possible candidate on the ticket next time.

"And who have you got in mind?" Patty asked.

"You."

It was not easy to surprise Patty Hewes, and she was extremely good at keeping her reactions to herself, but this still came as a huge shock. "Me?"

"You've been active in Democratic politics for nearly twenty years, you're one of the greatest heroes to the left, and you're so anti-crime, you can almost bank on support coming across the aisle Considering the battles you've waged all across the legislative world, I'm only shocked you haven't considered it yourself.."

"I've also made a shitload of enemies, from both sides of the political spectrum," Patty reminded him. "And even you can't have noticed that the last three administrations have considered me an enemy of the people. I'm still shocked the last one didn't throw me in Guantanamo. Not to mention that my family life is practically a wet dream for Rush Limbaugh."

"Have you seen some of the people the right have had on the ballot in the last few elections?" Nathan reminded her. "They really can't be serious about throwing stones, especially considering the last bunch? Besides, have you read some of the decisions coming out of DC. You've been tilting at titans for decades. This is the big time."

"I'm glad to know that you think my helping the right people get justice was something I did so I could one day get a government job," Patty was starting to get tired of the sales pitch. "Especially at the bottom of the totem pole, which is where a freshman Congressman ends up."

"Everybody starts at the bottom somewhere, Patty, that is how we get to the top." Nathan was being far more patient then the average pol. "You know that as well as anyone."

There had been requests before for Patty to seek elected office, but this was the first time someone so high up had made so blatant a plea. She was going to flat out say no, when something occurred to her. Given the way politics was now, one could even just decide to run for the statehouse just a few months in advance. Fundraising took a lot of time, and Reardon probably had a couple of SuperPacs on his side by now. Even with her name recognition- which she had to admit was considerable- and the DNC's support, she was going be down in money at least three to one if she said yes right now.

This wasn't a serious offer. It was a distraction. And the only reason people tried to distract her was to get her to leave a case. And she hadn't been at the head of any major litigation for a few...

A very intriguing idea crossed her mind. "So what do I have to do to get this process started?"

David was considering what his next step was. Go back to work. Confront Olivia. Throw out those bobbleheads that he still hadn't had the nerve to touch since he'd gone back to his apartment. Or call Ellen Parsons and see if she had seen anything in those transcripts.

There was one thing he wasn't going to do, and that was beg for help. The speech he had made had sounded bold in his head, but replaying the moment in his head later, it had smacked of desperate anger. Instead of confronting the people he had thought were responsible, he had gone to a total stranger, looking and sounding like a lunatic. He knew what he would've done if the situations had been reversed; he would've told himself to fuck off and stop wasting his time. The fact that Patty Hewes had not done just that meant that she had a level of tact that Maggie Shayes had been certain she didn't have.

His new cell rang. He froze. No one knew that he had changed his number. He hadn't talked to anyone but Ellen and Maggie since he'd bought the cell. Still, he let it ring twice before picking it up. It took him that long to get outside his apartment. "David Rosen."

"Mr. Rosen, this is Ellen Parsons."

"Yes?"

"Are the documents you gave Patty everything you have on the Quinn Perkins case?"

"Everything I gathered after three months of investigative work. Has Miss Hewes decided that she's going to take my case?"

"She wants to have her own people look into it; see if there's more to your case than just pissing in the wind, and calling it rain."

"Her words?" David asked.

"You've obviously never spent much time in New York."

He chuckled for the first time since he had come home to find Abby in his apartment when he had come home three days ago.

"Mr. Rosen, as someone who knows Patty a lot better than you do, I feel I should give you some advice." Ellen paused. "Be extreme careful in what you say and do."

"My apartment's being bugged; I'm watching every word I say."

"That's not what I mean." Ellen seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "If Patty makes your cause her own, she will fight hard for victory. But there's always collateral damage. And a lot of people could end up getting...hurt."

David didn't know Ellen Parsons at all, but even he could tell that she hadn't been about to use that as her last word. Nonetheless, he took a moment before he told her: "I think this is the right thing to do. I think the people involved in this should pay, and if there are consequences, well, to quote Jim Garrison, let justice be done, if the heavens fall."

_"There's been some damage to the body, and we haven't yet proceeded with the autopsy" Sgt. Walsh told them. _

_"What about fingerprints or DNA?" Krulik asked._

_"He wasn't in the system in either," Macevoy told them. "We don't want to call in next of kin until we're absolutely sure."_

_It seemed like a piss-poor way to do police work, but James , who only got his information on law enforcement from CSI, knew that he wasn't in a position to bitch._

_The detective walked to the computer, which he had assured them was linked to the morgue. "Only bit of internet software we've gotten in the last five years." He tapped several keys, and the picture came up._

_The clarity of the image left something to be desired, and there was definitely a lot of erosion, but it didn't matter. James recognized the picture, and although he kept a good poker face, Wes did too._

_The man on the slab was David Rosen._

.


	2. Just The Devil With His Receipt

**I know I have readers out there; I can hear you breathing. Review and I'll update faster. This has been a recording.**

Chapter 2

Just The Devil With His Receipt

_James Novak was beginning to get a very clear picture of why he'd be called into this ID, and it had nothing to do with his business card being found on David's body. David had been undergoing a fair amount of negative publicity for the last few days, and he probably had a better understanding of how bad it had gotten._

_"Have you performed an autopsy yet?" he asked Sgt. Walsh._

_The two looked at each other. "We need to get permission from his next of kin." Walsh told them._

_Even James, who had no experience with police procedure, knew this was bullshit. Considering how much Rosen had been in the press recently, there was no way they couldn't have known who it was when they fished his body out of the river. The reason they were stalled in place right now was because DC police was probably waiting for some federal agency to take over the investigation. That in itself would probably take hours to get through, considering how big the pissing contest was going to be just for a member of Justice, never mind someone who was a prominent player in the biggest government scandal since Watergate. They'd probably killed an hour just figuring out who to contact._

_"Tell the ME to get started on the autopsy _now, " _James demanded._

_"You're in no position to tell us what to do," Detective Macevoy told him._

_"I represent Patty Hewes," Wes, who had been considering the body silently for the last few minutes, spoke up for the first time. Considering how one of the detective's eyebrows twitched, Wes had picked the right thing to say. "Since you know who she is, you no doubt realize how important this man is to the case she is involved with. When she finds out that you are delaying the procedure that involves Mr. Rosen she will make whatever reaming your bosses will be giving you for the next hour feel like pats on the back."_

_The DC police cops were accustomed to being underpaid, understaffed, bullied by boss, and having jurisdiction battles with half of the alphabet soup that was law enforce in this city. But even they knew the stakes of the game that they were playing with when they heard how Patty Hewes was involved in this._

_"I knew this case was going to be a nightmare," Walsh nodded as he took out his cell to call the head of forensics._

6 Months Ago

Los Angeles

Wes knew that there were easier ways to get jobs, but this trip out to LA was the last final interview he had ever expected to get. For one thing, he had yet to actually talk with Patty Hewes. He had received a call two days ago telling him that he was going to have a meeting with Ellen, and that the next part of his screening was to investigate a case that hadn't even been on Patty's radar forty-eight hours earlier.

"Does she always put her employees through this kind of jumping through hoops?" he had asked Ellen.

"I went through something like this when I first came to work her," she told him. "She always likes using sources that aren't entirely attached to her when she's launching the groundwork for a big case."

"Which makes me just the means to an end," Wes told her.

"That's how Patty works with people."

"And if I were to go back to her with all her files and paperwork and tell her to shove them up her ass?"

"Then she'll find someone else to do it," Ellen admitted. "They won't be as good, but it won't be your problem. You can work somewhere else, God knows she's not that vindictive, but there's a special place in the unemployment line for people who can't cut it with Patty Hewes."

Wes needed the money and he needed the work. Telling Patty Hewes to go fuck herself would certainly earn him more than a few free meals, and more than one job offer, but he couldn't wait that long before the creditors came for his ass. Besides- and he would never admit this, even to Ellen- the casework was far more interesting than anything he'd seen anywhere. Besides, the air trip and the hotel room were on Hewes and Associates dime, so he had no problem living large.

According to Ellen, Lindsey Dwyer had been an average employee at Cytron Industries for five years, congenial enough, she had made more than a few friends, and had been in a serious relationship with someone who had worked there for awhile. Their relationship had seemed stable, though there had been accounts of a few fights, but no one at Cytron had considered their relationship to be volatile.

Nevertheless, when a bomb had gone off in Cytron headquarters a little less than a year and a half ago, killing her boyfriend and six other people, Dwyer had very quickly become a person of interest. She had been part of two police interrogations, which had done little to convince people of her innocence, and even though she didn't have the technical know-how to construct a bomb, there had been damning evidence on her home computers showing the material on how to make one, though she denied having ever visited the websites.

And then, four days into the investigation, Lindsey Dwyer had vanished off the face of the earth. A manhunt had been launched in California, but six months of searching turned up nothing. Dwyer had never offered any explanation as to why she had run, either during the interrogation or at her pretrial.

It was bizarre, but Ellen had picked up on a couple of facts in the background she had done. Less than a week after the Cytron bombing, Olivia Pope had tendered her resignation as press secretary for the Grant White House. Less than a month later, she had opened up shop in D.C., and quickly developed a reputation among the Beltways as a professional fixer. She had kept her shop limited, but six months later Quinn Perkins, a woman who hadn't even existed until four months previous, began working for her. Six months after that, Perkins had been found at a crime scene, and Rosen had gotten her fingerprints. He had figured out Perkins' true identity, and her trial and even more than unlikely dismissal had occurred with out Perkins having to give a word of explanation or defense.

The key factor in this process was Pope, but Wes' assignment had not been to look into her, but rather Dwyer, and try and figure out why someone who had been a key member of the current administration would take an interest into what seemed to be an open and shut case of a love triangle gone horribly wrong. So much so that she would decide to quit a job that almost any woman in Washington would've killed for. Wes suspected the answers were in D.C.

He had to help Patty ask the right questions.

"They told me the case was dead. Twice," the investigating officer, Deputy Chief Johnson told him. "You're really telling me that this woman might pay for what she did?"

"That's one of the purposes of the inquiry. But in order to do that, we need to know what you left out," Wes told her.

"Everything that we have is in the file," Deputy Chief Johnson spoke in a tone that suggested butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Wes had known his share of cops, and he knew there was steel behind that southern twang.

"Including how the most elite unit in the LAPD managed to completely lose its prime suspect in a multiple homicide?" Wes came right back.

All the goodwill went out of her voice. "I suspect all the evidence you found was what the LAPD files," she told him. "I didn't bother, however, to include my private notes."

"And why should I care about that?" Wes asked politely.

"Because Lindsey Dwyer was not my first suspect for this case. Hell, I didn't even know she was an employee until Day 2 of the investigation. In fact, the idea to investigate her didn't originate from this office."

Wes didn't know if this helped his cause or hurt it. "Who was your first suspect in the investigation?"

"We hadn't gone that far. The investigation into the bombing of Cytron was considered an act of domestic terrorism at first, and was held under the investigatory auspices of the FBI. " Chief Johnson hesitated. "I have certain connections with the Bureau, so I was told to put a Chinese wall between the two facets of by the chief. I was trying to get information from the company's files, but Cytron's attorneys refused to give us access. "

"You tried to subpoena them," It wasn't a question.

"There had been rumors of investigations into the business practices of the firm," Chief Johnson admitted. "Rumors had appeared online that Cytron was involved in practices related to offshore drilling. My team and I hadn't even developed a theory, when the Bureau contacted us and informed us that they had a suspect."

"You're telling me the Feds pushed this suspect on you?"

Johnson made a face. "They tried to pawn a suspect off the brass. I never got a chance to spend more than five minutes with the woman before the search of the laptop gave us the data of how to make a bomb. They couldn't have wrapped it up tighter if they'd put a little bow on top."

"So as far as you're concerned Lindsey Dwyer may not have been the bomber?" Wes asked.

"I'm not the kind of person who believes in a second gunman," Brenda admitted, "but my FBI source thought there was something fishy about the whole thing. They wanted the LAPD to rubber stamp their arrest, and then they laid it on us when she somehow disappeared off the face of the earth. When I heard she'd resurfaced, I tried to get the state and the FBI to extradite this Quinn Perkins back to LA. But for some reason, neither was interested in seeing a woman who had committed seven homicides see any form of justice in the state that she'd committed them in."

"So you do think there was a conspiracy?"

"Off the record?" Chief Johnson paused. "The only files we were allowed access too were the ones relating to the bomb. We never got a look at anything else on Dwyer's computer or anything connected with Cytron. I think they're hiding something very critical there, but then," the smile was back, "I'm not a lawyer."

GEORGETOWN

David had expected that there might be some blowback when he came back to work and made no effort to even mention what he had been up to the two months he had been on 'vacation. But the only advice that he had gotten from Ellen Parsons had been that until he heard something from Patty, his best was to resume life as if everything was back to normal.

Admittedly, going to work on what amounted to routine homicide prosecutions didn't seem to have the same bite they did even a month ago, but he needed to find a way to keep busy in the fact of what might be a vast government conspiracy. He wondered if this was how the secretaries at the Company worked.

"I never thought I'd see the day."

He had not expected to hear her voice this soon, much less that she would come to visit him anymore. "Olivia. To what do I owe the pleasure?" His tone couldn't have had more ice in it, if he had come directly from the Arctic.

"Abby told me that you had gotten your job back. I just wanted to say hello."

The unbridled balls of the woman. It took all of his energy not to leap to his feet and start flinging accusations at her, starting with: 'Why are you bugging my apartment?" and finishing up with: "Did you order Abby to sleep with me?' But even if he hadn't been working with Patty Hewes, he knew that he'd never get any honest answers to his questions. The only way to fight someone who repelled every attack was find a weapon big enough to break through her armor. However, no one had said that they had to be civil.

"You never come to say hello to anyone, Olivia, without some ulterior motive. I'd try and figure out what it is now, but I've got a very busy afternoon ahead of me."

"David, I realize you've got more than a few reasons to be pissed-"

"Oh, I have many reasons to be pissed at you, but the big one is your apparent assumption that we were once friends." David finally looked up at her. "We were never friends; in fact, I'm pretty sure that people like you go out of their way _not _to have friends. I am someone who occasionally you find use for, and frankly, having wasted several months of my life trying to figure out what your motivations for doing things are, I don't have the energy to deal with it anymore. So let me save you the trouble. I am no longer pursuing Quinn's case. There will be no criminal prosecution from this office of any crimes that we know she is guilty of. This office is letting the matter rest."

He was skating to the edge of the lie, but not saying anything- he knew how to talk like a politician when he absolutely had to.

"I'm relieved to hear that," Olivia told him.

"Good." His politeness only went so far. "Now leave my office, and don't come back. You don't get any more favors from me. Find someone else to eat your shit."

Wisely, she knew better than to press for anything else. But he knew Olivia far too well to think that she wouldn't be back. Maybe the next time she came, he'd have a surprise for her.

Olivia waited until she was out of the building before she took out her phone. "David's letting the matter go."

"And you found that out by just looking into his innocent eyes," Cyrus told her sarcastically.

"He's been back at his job a week, he hasn't made any effort to prosecute the case, he hasn't talked to anybody about it; Cyrus, I think we're in the clear."

"Then why did he go to New York, Olivia? Why did he talk with one of the biggest litigators in the country?"

"And how exactly do you know that?" When there was no answer, Olivia blew up. "For Christ's sake, Cyrus, either you trust me or you don't!"

"I trust you implicitly Olivia, but I have to keep Hollis Doyle off my back, and you know how adamant he was last time we met about a more permanent solution."

"The conditions for him getting his job back couldn't be more clear. He has to drop whatever extracurricular activities he was engaged in. He's given it up. "

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "I hope for all our sakes you're right."

Now she was starting to get exasperated. "We had a goddamn arrangement, Cyrus. Tell Hollis to keep to it. Or he's going to have more than one problem."

"I've talked to a half dozen cops who were involved in the investigation. These are veteran officers, all of whom thought that it was weird how quickly the feds jumped on to this case," Wes was telling Ellen. "They claimed it was because it was an act of terrorism."

"You think they were right?" Ellen asked.

"Hard to tell off- year old photographs," he admitted. "But I talked to one guy from the bomb squad. Said it was made way too well for someone who got the information off the internet. Unless Dwyer was related to Ted Kasycinski, she'd have been far more likely to blow herself up, never mind getting the bomb made."

Ellen considered this. "So you think the feds had their minds made up _before _they made any arrest."

"My ties with the feds are nowhere near as good as they are with the locals, but from what I understand, none of them worked in the LA field office. All of them came from DC. Is that my next stop?"

"Tell him to email all his information to the account I gave him," Patty told Ellen ten minutes later.

"What's our next move?"

"Something doesn't track here. Let's say for the sake of argument, someone was setting up Dwyer to be the fall guy for what happened at Cytron. Let's even go as far to say that's it someone high up within the corridors of power. Why does someone in those same hallways go to such trouble to make sure that Mason never sees the inside of a jail cell? "

"There are two separate conspiracies here," Ellen reasoned, "Olivia Pope on one hand, someone else on the other, and we're still nowhere on figuring out who that person is."

"We're not going to," Patty pointed out. "If Mr. Rosen is right about the government being in on this, there's an excellent chance that someone's making sure that no one finds that trace. And if it is government, they'll have been a lot surer to make sure that there are no loose ends. In order to figure this out, we need to know how exactly Lindsey Dwyer became Quinn Perkins. And the only way were going to figure that out is by getting in the same room with her."

"Does that mean that you're taking this case?" Ellen asked.

"Not until we're properly armed," Patty replied. " Get in touch with Rosen. Tell him we need to know everything we can get on Olivia Pope."'

The last three days had been nothing short of hell for Olivia. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC had all done stories in the same twenty-four period on the First Lady's new son, which was now within a week of its due date. Naturally, this meant every network was running stories on the President marriage. The PR version of it, anyway.

The facts that the Grant had managed to keep the fact that every detail about their marriage was basically a lie, not only the media but even outside the world of much of DC was a miracle of spin doctors and acting so bravura it made Daniel Day-Lewis look like The Situation. Being one of the handful of people who knew just how complete a deception did not make Olivia feel particularly proud of the job she had been doing.

Any of it.

She needed a distraction, and it said something about her state of mind that dealing with surveillance of someone she had considered a friend until recently, seemed like something that could serve as one.

"You have a problem," the man on the other end told her in lieu of an introduction. "Rosen has been doing normal business for the past week, office, home, normal business at Justice. "

"But?"

"Every day, he drives down to his nearest Samsung, buys a disposable cell phone, and discards exactly one hour later, far too quickly for any of us to get a trace on it. Then he drives to his apartment disposes of the phone, and does the same thing within a twenty-four hour period. He varies his location for all of the calls, but he never does it in his apartment."

This was news she didn't need. "He knows he's being bugged. Do you have any idea who he's calling?"

"We've been trying to get up on the network, but these people are smart. They're also using disposable phones. We have however, narrowed it down to the radius of where he's calling from to somewhere within Manhattan."

"Somewhere within Manhattan? When has your work become so rank amateurish? These people are barely taking the kind of measures Mafioso do to stay ahead of the Bureau."

"Don't you dare put me in the same category with those fuckwits!" The man on the other end was ex-Company, not ex-FBI. These rivalries were nearly as aggressive as the ones within the corridors of the executive branch. "Give me the OK, and I will have their location in a matter of hours."

"Doesn't matter," Olivia said with a shade of tiredness. "I have a feeling I'll be hearing from whoever it is very soon. And when it is, we'll have to deal with it then."

_"Excuse me, I'm looking for a Sgt. Walsh."_

_James thought that he knew most of the players in the Perkins lawsuit, and indeed the woman- a tall, willowy redhead- was definitely familiar. It just took him a moment to place her as Abigail Whelan, one of Olivia Pope's closest associates. _

_"Ms Whelan, this is a secure area, you can't just barge in here-"_

_"Do you know who I am? Do you know who I work for?"_

_"I know exactly who she is," Wes told the officer who was- not for much longer, by the looks of thing- trying to hold Abby back. "And she has absolutely no business being here."_

_"I don't know who you are-"_

_"Yes, you do, Miss Whelan, just as surely as you know who I am." Wes told them. "And if this were strictly about the case, I would be helping the cops keep you out. But the fact of the matter is, you were much closer to this any of us, and she has a right to know what's going on."_

_James knew goddamn well that the discovery of Rosen's body hadn't even gone over the wire, because next of kin hadn't arrived yet. But somehow, it didn't surprise him that Olivia had found out before the rest of the world. She seemed to make a project of being three steps ahead of everyone._

_Of course, if she had done this, they- and the rest of the country- probably wouldn't be in this mess._

_"Just tell me, is it true?"_

_"Miss Whelan, there is not time for playing sympathy. So I'll be blunt. Mr. Rosen's body was pulled out of the Potomac earlier today." Wes held off, then added the one thing the cops hadn't said yet.. "And I'd say that there's an excellent chance he was murdered."_

"Olivia Pope, thirty-eight, graduate of Howard University, political science major. Became involved with community activism at the age of seventeen, when she campaigned for Wilder's run for governor in Virginia. Continued work for the NAACP, Emily's List, League of Women Voter's, still managed to graduated with a 3.85 GPA." Wes told her on the conference call

"Gets into political operations for the next decade, works on six senatorial run, five gubernatorial races, fourteen Representatives, only two of whom don't go on to win. All of them Democrats, by the way."

"So why does she join the staff of a Republican Presidential campaign three years ago?" Ellen asked.

"She did it out of a favor to a friend and mentor, Cyrus Beene, Fitzgerald Grant's chief of staff. He asked for her help during the primaries, she stayed with the campaign till the White House."

"Cy Beene?" Patty interrupted. "Isn't he gay?"

This seemed like a total nonsequiteur, but Wes plowed through it. "He's registered as married in the state of Connecticut, so yes," he told her. "How exactly is this pertinent?"

"No doubt another attempt for the Republican to make their tent seem bigger than it is." Patty was speculative. "Grant seems like an odd choice for both of these people end up working for, particularly considering who he chose as his VP."

This was not a small matter for either of them. Sally Langston, the Vice-President and leading contender for the nomination was known as being even further to the right of the base. The fact that Grant had overcome a ten point lead was amazing; the fact that she had agreed to serve on the ticket was astonishing. It was also how politics worked in both parties.

"Grant wins the White House; Pope is installed as communications director. She serves with the administration until May, when she abruptly resigns."

"What reason did she give for leaving?"

"She didn't." Wes told her bluntly. "She still hasn't. But the fact is, two days before she resigned, the Cytron bombing took place. A week after she resigned, Lindsey Dwyer disappeared of the face of the earth. It's not exactly a smoking gun-"

"-but it is suggestive that she knew something about it," Ellen told him.

"Keep going. What else do you know?" Patty went on.

"About two months after she resigns, she sets up shop in Georgetown as the Beltway's premier troubleshooter.. Working with her are three people, Harrison Wright, Abigail Whelan, Stephen Finch. Six months after that, she brings Quinn Perkins in as her protégée. Exactly one week later, she's trying to prove Amanda Tanner never had an affair with the President."

"How long after does the President's mistress end up in the Potomac?"

"One month later. Interestingly enough, in the interim, she ends up a client of Pope's. This woman really does seem to be an equal opportunity manager."

"She's like everyone else in Washington. She's following her own agenda."

"So whose agenda was she following when Tanner ended up in the drink?" Wes asked.

"Right now, that's not our concern." Only Patty Hewes could reduce the President's extramarital affair to 'non important business.'. How does Quinn Perkins end up getting arrested?"

"She's found on the scene of the site of a DC reporter who ends up disappearing," Ellen told her. "According to Rosen, he managed to get the DNA of Perkins and match it to Mason that same day."

"We should probably just call her Perkins for the moment or we'll end up going crazy." Patty said slowly. " Olivia Pope's Rolodex has to be even bigger than mine. Do we even have a list of suspects?"

"I've been getting bits and pieces of various DC workers, but the fact is half of Congress, a dozen federal judges and three cabinet secretaries are among the people she's helped in the past six months. We're not going to be able to pare down the list without a lot of work," Wes hesitated. "But I do know someone who might be able to cut down our workload considerably."

"Keep going," Patty pushed.

"One week after Quinn Perkins is acquitted, Stephen Finch takes administrative leave from Olivia Pope. At least that's the explanation she's given her people, but Rosen says he's gotten married and moved to Baltimore."

"A dissatisfied employee?"

"According to Rosen, Pope's people are loyal to the point of your average suicide cult. A person doesn't walk away, and she stands by them through thick and thin. Finch's disappearance hit her very hard." Wes decided not to mention the obvious similarities between working for Patty and working for Olivia Pope.

"Do you have an address on Finch? " was all Patty chose to say.

"Why, am I making the redeye to Baltimore?" Wes asked wryly.

"No, your next job is going to be contacting the LAPD and getting the names and addresses of the next of kin for the seven victims of the Cytron bombing." Patty told him. "We are going to file a class action against Olivia Pope for the wrongful death of those seven victims."

There was a long silence. "Am I doing this as your new lead investigator?" Wes asked quietly.

"We're going to need to keep your employment quiet for the moment, Mr. Krulik," Patty told him "But I'll be emailing you a copy of your new contract to your hotel room. Congratulations."

"If you don't mind, I think I'll hold off on the interviews until after my contract arrives."

Patty actually managed a smile for this. "Very sound reasoning. Call me when you get it."

Ellen looked at Patty. She knew better than to thank her for hiring someone she considered a friend, particular as she still considered working for Patty something of a mixed blessing. "Who do you want to handle contact with Morton?"

"I believe this is a good place to lay of the land," Patty told her. "Get the address from Rosen. But I have to tell you you're probably not going to get a lot out of him yet, if at all. For that matter, even talking to him, may get him to jump back on Pope's team. This woman clearly inspires a great deal of loyalty."

_Like Tom did with you _Ellen thought to herself. "Then why talk to him at all if that's a likely outcome?"

"Because there's always a chance. And we have to jump on an opportunity."

**Baltimore**

When Stephen had told Georgia he wanted them to elope, and that they were going to Acapulco for their honeymoon, he had almost been as surprised as she was. She probably would've been floored by the fact that he had taken that same opportunity for him to move into her apartment closer to where she worked, and that he had not left a change of address card for his last employer, or for that matter, any of his friends. He had been telling himself for the past two months that he just wanted a clean break. But even he wasn't buying that particular line.

Quinn Perkins had been arrested two days before he left town, and even though the news of the complete dismissal of all of her charges had made every website in the world, he felt no great urge to return.

He knew that this wasn't exactly Brazil, and that if Olivia wanted to find him, it wouldn't take much work. The fact that she hadn't probably meant something on her end as well. She was probably working at the same dizzying pace she managed for everything else in space of a social life, but he had a feeling that eventually she was going to slow down and seek him out. When she did, she would say three words: _You owe me. _And even though he'd had months to think about it, he still didn't have an answer to that obvious statement.

Georgia hadn't asked- she'd never asked about all the things that he'd done for Olivia over the years- but he had a feeling she was lying in wait, too. And eventually he was going to have to choose between his spouse and his patron. And even though she thought he had already made the decision, the hard choice hadn't come up yet.

The doorbell rang, and Stephen frowned. They weren't expecting anybody, and in the era of the text message, who dropped by unannounced anymore? Barely anyone in the city knew their new address yet. With a sigh, he walked towards the door, and was somewhat struck by the arrival of an attractive brunette who probably had yet to see her thirtieth birthday.

He recognized neither her name nor her employer, but he had a fair idea of what she wanted.

"Stephen, I didn't realize we had guests," Georgia asked when she entered the room. "Who is she?"

"Don't worry. It's just the devil with his receipt." he told her.

"Olivia Pope has done some things that might be considered ethically questionable, but I hardly think that she's capable of what you're accusing her of."

Finch had a level of charm on him. Had she not developed a bullshit meter nearly as well groomed as Patty, she might even have fallen for it. "You had a level of income under her far higher then the average lobbyist," Ellen pointed out "Not to mention the level of respect and power you could command with her say-so. Why would you just walk away from all that?"

Stephen looked at her. "The same reason Edward VIII chose to become the Duke of Windsor."

There was a certain level of sincerity in his tone, but Ellen just wasn't buying "And it's just a coincidence that you left her employ just before conditions around her became radioactive?"

"Olivia Pope will never become a liability in this town, Miss Parsons, she commands respect and loyalty."

"Including yours?" Ellen looked at Finch."I assume that everybody who works for her has some astonishing tale of how she did something extraordinary for her. Now that they may provide cover for a lot of sins, but I find it hard that it would cover conspiracy to commit murder."

All good cheer left Finch's face. "You're hardly a prosecuting attorney, and even if you were you certainly wouldn't have jurisdiction over DC, so I find myself asking, what is your investment in all this?"

"Answering a question with a question. How Zen of you." Ellen decided to go a little harder. "Mr. Finch, right now, this is a private conversation. I'm talking to someone who no longer works for one of the biggest power brokers in DC. Who might have some reason for having left the biggest job he could find. Now right now, none of this is on any sort of record. That isn't going to stay that way. My boss will come at your hard. Obstruction charges might not bother you much now, but believe they will feel like a breath of wind compared to what Patty Hewes will throw at you. So now, while there is still time to walk away from this, is there anything about Elizabeth Mason that would draw her to Olivia Pope?"

There was a very long pause. For the briefest of instants, Ellen actually thought that she was starting to register with Finch. Then it was gone. "I'm sorry, Miss Parsons, but I can't help you. And I think it's time you left."

There wasn't much point in pressing the bastard now. Not when she was likely to get another chance very soon. She did, however, intend to drop at least one depth charge before she departed. "Very well. However, I will ask you to consider one thing," she said as she walked to the door. "Why would someone who thinks so highly of her people put them in a compromising situation with the man who's investigating her?"

"Now you're just making stuff up," Finch told her.

"Maybe you should have a conversation with Abby Whelan." Ellen told him sweetly. "And then maybe you should ask yourself how I, a complete stranger, have access to this."

She left wondering exactly which of his acquaintances he would call first.

"So far, four of the victims families have agreed to sue Pope & Associates for damages from the wrongful deaths," Ellen was telling David.

"I know there's no way to make a criminal charge against Perkins because of the circumstances of her prosecution," David Rosen told her. "I find it hard to believe one couldn't find a loophole in the law to get to Olivia."

"There might well be. But the standards for a civil case, even one of this magnitude, are far lower then they would be in criminal court," Ellen reminded him. "There's also a certain amount of latitude if we choose the widen the net."

"I'm familiar with the law," David reminded him. "I spent three months trying to find a way around it. You really think that it will be easy to get to some of the people that we need to get?"

"Easy? No. Doable? Very likely. You're right about there being some kind of criminal conspiracy here, certainly within the ranks of the judiciary." Ellen hesitated. "And this will provide you with a certain amount of coverage if people in your own office are guilty."

That was an area David didn't want to explore at all, but he had a pretty sick feeling that he was going to have to very soon. He had never thought his colleagues to be corrupt, but he knew that lot of them were ambitious. This was the Beltway, after all "Let's worry about that when we've got some evidence."

"David, now that we're about to get started, I think we have to bring up the elephant in the room."

"I didn't know the criminals were Republicans." David knew that was an immensely stupid think to say, especially considering who Olivia's most famous client was.. But even he didn't think the corruption when that high. Not yet. "Fire away."

"The instant Patty announces the suit, you're going to be extremely vulnerable. Olivia's going to know where the leak came from, and if she was serious enough to have your apartment bugged when she only thought you were a risk to her..." Ellen trailed off.

"Olivia's ruthless and single-minded when it comes to her clients, I'll give her that much," David admitted. "But she's not the type of person who'd use violence, even as a last result."

"You don't know what her secret is. And considering the people she calls her clients, they might consider seven people dying a fair starting point to protect themselves."

"Is this your way of asking if I need protection?"

There was a much longer hesitation this time. "There's no guarantee that Patty can give it" she finally said. "I'm telling you from bitter personal experience, she'll only protect you as long as she can find use for you. And God knows that the U.S. government probably isn't on your side right now."

"We've already had this discussion," David reminded her.

"And we're going to have it again, because I think you missed the point." Ellen hesitated again. "You said you talked to Tom's sister. When she told you why she didn't trust Patty, did she mention my part of it?"

David really didn't want to go into this part of the conversation. Maggie had brought Ellen's name to him about the firm as something as a cautionary tale. He knew that there'd been some major dispute involved with her hiring that had something to do with the case against Frobisher, that it had gotten even more cutthroat then the publicity seemed to suggest, and that Ellen's fiancé had ended up dead. Beyond that Maggie had been extremely reluctant to go into details. All she'd been willing to say was: "I'd rather you'd do this with Ellen that Patty . She knows better than anyone how dark and deep the woods can get."

Now here he was, and Ellen was doing everything short of holding up a sign saying 'Get out while the getting is good'. Patty Hewes was dangerous to be around, so why had he practically turned somersaults to make sure that she was on his side?

Then he remembered the bobbleheads. He was already in too deep. And if sending in Abby to seduce him and bugging his apartment were the first steps, the next step might involve undoing a gas line in his apartment while he slept.

"Patty represents people who don't have any other alternative," he reminded her. "She may use a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel, but the fact remains, I am one of the people. She needs me now. So let me worry about later, and you people worry about protecting me now."

"David, what I'm trying to tell you is that later may come a lot sooner than you think."

"You told me that this had been taken care of!" Stephen was shouting.

"I thought it had been-"

"Bullshit! Was any of what you were telling me about her even real?"

"Stephen, considering how you left, you're in no position to be delivering a lecture." Olivia's voice now had no give in it, either. "Believe me, I've got more important things to do than salve your feelings."

Stephen quieted, but he was still breathing. "This is not going to go away, Olivia," he reminded her. "Now I was willing to support you as long as I worked for you, but I don't anymore. For a reason."

"I'm going to take care of this, Stephen. Believe me."

_6 Months Later_

_"How long was the body in the water? Can you tell that much?" Novak demanded._

_"The pathologist says that he was in the water less than twelve hours, " Walsh told the assembled personages. "Does that line up with the last time any of you talked with him?"_

_Wes exchanged glances with Novak. "He was scheduled to give a deposition about two hours from now," he told them "Hewes had an appointment to talk with him one last time this morning."_

_'You got here awfully fast, considering," Novak's journalistic instincts were kicking in, almost despite themselves._

_"You knew as well as anyone else what he was going to say," Wes reminded them. "Given what has been happening every since Patty filed her papers, she wanted to make sure that nothing happened to Rosen."_

_"Then how did he end up in the river in the first place?" the detective queried._

_"You're the ones who pulled his body out of the drink; you tell me," Wes reminded him. "The way I see it, your people dropped the ball far worse than we did."_

_McAvoy and Walsh exchanged a guilty glance of their own. Ever since the case had relocated to DC, Hewes had made very clear that she preferred to trust her own security people and local cops far more than anyone connected with the Feds. Someone's ass was going to get fired, and the question was whether they could save their credibility by catching whoever killed him._

_"Can you at least tell us how he was killed?" Novak demanded._

_"Whoever disposed of Mr. Rosen did a shitty job of it," Walsh said slowly. "Someone tries to dump a body in the Potomac- particularly someone of Mr. Rosen's importance- they could've made it so we didn't fish it out for days. Someone wanted to make sure that we found it."_

_"You didn't answer the question," It was the first time that Abby had spoken since she had learned that David was dead._

_"That's because we knew it before we did the autopsy," Walsh told them. "David Rosen was stabbed three times in the chest. None of the wounds on its own would've been fatal. Whoever did this to him, made sure that he lived long enough to bleed out. And they had a lot of questions to ask him before that."_

_"He was tortured," It wasn't a question._

_"I don't know why else every finger on his right hand would be broken. Bottom line, Mr. Krulik, you weren't the only ones who wanted to interrogate him."_

_There was a guttural sound from Abby Whelan. It was a choked back sob, and tears were beginning to form on her cheeks. Whatever relationship Abby and David had in the past, it was pretty clear that she was the only person there who was really mourning his death._


	3. You Should See The Flatiron Building

Chapter 3

You Should See The Flatiron Building

_The White House_

_Briefing Room_

_Cyrus Beene didn't like doing briefings any more the press corps wanted to hear from him. Part of it was his lack of presentation and utter refusal to say anything that the media wanted to hear, and as the scandals that seemed to be surrounding the Grant administration seemed to be multiplying daily, that pretty much took care of about everything that they'd ask._

_But as the scandals continued to mount, more and more loyalists were deserting. Not that there had been many people that Cyrus trusted at all in his position - too many people with loyalty to Mellie or the Vice President. But as the smell of blood had gotten more and more obvious around the administration, there were fewer friends among his staff or the party or anywhere else. So what he wanted to deal with didn't really matter much._

_As he walked up to the dais, he noticed that his husband wasn't at his usual spot. Considering that whenever they were in each other's presence for more than three minutes, they seemed to get into a fight, Cyrus almost considered that a blessing. The sad truth was, the hour or so he spent doing his damnedest to ignore what the media wanted to say were the longest conversations they had these days. Maybe James's absence was speaking louder than any question he could yell at him._

_As he began the ritual of trying to placate the mob, he could tell that there was something more going on than just the usual demands for answers to questions he had no intention of responding to. About three minutes in, the Post's replacement got to his feet, and almost by acclimation, the mob quieted enough for him to be heard._

_"Mr. Beene, does the White House have any comment about the death of David Rosen?" he said quietly._

_Given his age, it was perhaps odd Cyrus had never given much thought to what a heart attack might feel like. The sensation of blood rushing to his head, a cold chill permeating his insides, and his brief inability to make a coherent thought, he dared to consider that he might be having one right this very moment. "I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?" he heard himself say._

_"Does the White House have any comment about the apparent foul play that David Rosen met earlier today?"_

_No, they couldn't have. He had given very strict orders about this very problem. And then there was that sudden turn of phrase. For all the times politicians accused the media of trying to trap them, the fact was they didn't do it that often. Now that he was actually seeing it, Cyrus realized that he'd almost been played by it. _James had something to do with this, _he thought._

_"This is the first that I have heard about Mr. Rosen's passing," he said slowly._

_"He was pulled out of the Potomac. Don't make it sound like he died in his sleep." _

_Yes, they had him. They had him good. There was no answer that he could give that would get him out of the snare he was in. A denial wouldn't be believed, a 'no comment' would be saying that they had something to hide, and almost anything might implicate the President in a far greater crime then the ones they were accusing him of already. This was shit creek, and he was short a paddle._

_He did the only thing he could do, even though it would only make a bad situation much worse. He ended the press conference. How he was going to explain this to the President, he didn't know. Right now, he had to get on the phone with the only person who could get him out of this mess._

_Except at that moment, his phone rang "What do you want?"_

_"Cyrus," It was the second last voice that he wanted to hear. "What did you do?"_

5 Months Earlier

Washington D.C.

The same thing that gave Olivia Pope her credentials as the best was the thing that didn't work for most people in DC: the general public didn't know who she was. Senators, governors, CEOs, even some world leaders from countries that weren't on the United States Christmas card list- all had her number on speed-dial. But the key to being a fixer is that you must stay almost completely off the radar. Some media exposure was necessary, but if too many people recognized her, then you got a reputation. And if you are seen responding to too many fires, when the media sees you, they know there's a problem, and your effectiveness gets cut off at the knees.

So the last thing Olivia needed was to have her name in connection with a major scandal. When Quinn had been arrested for murder in May,. it could've done a body blow to her rep. And whereas most people in the city would have cut Quinn Perkins loose without a second thought, she had gotten her the best criminal attorney in the Beltway, and made a very public show of defending her. When Rosen's case had been dismissed without prejudice, it would have seemed to bear her out, and the city, fixated on other issues, had forgotten Olivia's name. Her own people had been more withholding, and Stephen was no longer working with her because of it, but those were minor obstacles to overcome.

Then this morning Patty Hewes had gone on Fox News and announced that she was suing Pope and Associates for three hundred and fifty million dollars for her role in the wrongful deaths of eight people in the bombing of Cytron. Suddenly, millions of people knew who Olivia was - in the worst possible way.

Even though their paths had never crossed, Olivia knew who Hewes was. She'd been one of her greatest admirers, at least theoretically. Her causes were ones that she approved of, and her ability to work the media was at a level some Presidents never mastered. But all of that admiration went out the window when she was in Patty's bombsight.

The media firestorm was sure to follow would've been bad enough, but the fact was Olivia wasn't sure how loyal her own people were going to be to this particular issue. Huck had been as impenetrable as the Sphinx, as per usual, but Abby had made some very pointed remarks to Harrison in Quinn's presence, and Harrison, normally quick to defend his boss, had kept his mouth shut. Quinn, who had spent the time since the dismissal gradually regaining her footing, now seemed completely shattered.

Office morale was really the least of her worries, but right now, it was the one that she had to deal with. Harrison then seemed to recover his tongue very quickly.

"You have two options, neither of which you're going to like," he told her. "You try and settle this thing before Patty sees a judge. But my guess is she won't take one."

"Why not?"

"You know why not Liv-"

"Why not?"

"Because no attorney would! I sure as hell wouldn't if I were arguing this case. And certainly not this one. "

"Patty Hewes is just another New York attorney-" Olivia started.

"Don't ever try to insult the legal community by just calling Patty Hewes another attorney," Harrison reminded her. "Olivia, I owe you everything in the world, and I am on your side, but if Hewes and Associates offered me a position tomorrow, I'd seriously consider taking it. "

"You think she'd make you a better offer?"

"She's _you, _Liv. You've seen her in action for years; when she takes a cause and makes it her own, there is nobody better you want on your side. She takes no prisoners, she tilts after windmills and she knocks them down." Harrison tried to find a better way to make his point. "She's a goddamn gladiator. And she has a winning hand."

"There are ways to get through this?"

"You provided the defense for a woman accusing of killing seven people. You don't get more liable than that! She doesn't even have to try that hard at deposition to prove her case. She can just download CNN!" Harrison took a breath. "Do I need to go any further to prove my point?"

Olivia did her damnedest to keep the mask going. "You said I have two options. What was the second one?"

Harrison knew she'd hated hearing this much. This could get him fired. "Cut Quinn loose. Let her take her-"

She didn't even let him finish the sentence. "No."

"Olivia-"

"She is one of our people."

"She's not just one of your people! She's a fucking codefendant! And getting rid of her is the best way to save your ass!" Harrison reminded her. "Liv, I'm your friend. I'm your attorney. And my best legal advice is to show her the door. You can get ten other lawyers; they'll tell you the exact same thing. "

There was a lot of truth in what he was saying. And the fact was, it would make things a lot easier. But Olivia knew the one thing that Harrison didn't: the only thing keeping Quinn alive was the fact that she was working for her. Five minutes after she cut her loose, Lindsey Dwyer would disappear once again. Only this time, her body would never be found. And after everything that had happened, she couldn't allow another person to be sacrificed.

"Talk with Hewes, find a number that she will live with, and I will handle the rest."

"Did you not just hear me-"

"_Find a number. _Everybody has one."

Harrison Wright knew Patty Hewes' reputation well enough to know that she probably wouldn't even entertain a call from him, and that was with cases a lot less solid than this. But he also knew that trying to talk to his boss- and that's what she was at the end of the day- that making any more of an effort would be futile. There was however, something else they hadn't discussed.

"One last thing. Patty Hewes is a brilliant attorney, but she doesn't go after a case unless she has a winner. She didn't pull Quinn's name out of the air."

"David," Olivia's response was dull; she'd worked that out first.

"I'd find out how bad your exposure is with him, before he starts talking in front of a stenographer."

The minute that Patty had appeared on TV, David knew exactly what was going to happen. But rather than try and put up any kind of defense, he told his secretary to let Olivia in, and not to have security go anywhere near here. He didn't think he was a particularly petty individual, but there weren't a lot of moments where you could hold your opponent at bay, especially when that opponent was Olivia Pope.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Isn't a glorious morning?" He spoke right over her, which was something that simply wasn't done. "The smell of the city, cherry blossoms in their final glow, temperature the perfect fix between hot and cold. I don't care what people say, Washington is glorious in the fall."

Olivia charged on ahead. So did David. "Can I have my assistant bring you any thing? Cup of coffee, Danish, maybe some Darjeeling. You know, in all the years I've known you, I don't think I know what you like for breakfast in the morning.

"Well, I guess there's no reason to ask whether or not you saw the morning news," Olivia tried again.

"Or maybe it's simply the feeling that you have when you see that justice is about to be done." The smile on his face got a lot harder.

"You told me that this case was done with-"

"I believe my exact words were: _This office is not going to pursue Quinn Perkins. _You work for politicians, Liv, you know how important choice of words is." David reminded her. "Now I know you came here with a lot of questions, but let me save you the effort. I have no intention of answering any of them, seeing that I may be called upon as a witness. You might want to consider that possibility, seeing that you are now a defendant."

Olivia seemed, for the first time in a very long time, like she didn't know what to say. He knew this wouldn't last long, so he looked her in the eye. "Now you what it felt like to be me a lot of the time."

Now an expression was appearing on that mask Olivia called a face. It might be concern. "You have no idea how big a pile of shit you've stepped in David," she told him

"Of course I don't. You made it your business never to tell me." Any hint of bonhomie disappeared from his face. "I don't know who you're protecting or whose ass you're covering, but when this is over, you're going to wish that you'd let me the one to handle Quinn Perkins. Patty Hewes eviscerates people like you. You're going to need to hire yourself to fix the mess you're going to be in. " He hit the buzzer on this desk. "Now I know it was childish to have you come here just so I could gloat, but I believe I made the terms of our relationship clear that last time you were in this office. Security really doesn't get the chance to throw enough people out. This should make their year."

Olivia seemed to realize just how deep things we're going to get, so rather than suffer the indignity of being tossed out, she whirled around, and was heading out just before the guard came in.

His smile was gone. "Unless I tell otherwise, don't let that woman inside this office even if she's perched on top of a tank."

Olivia's phone began to ring the second she was outside. Cyrus had already called her four times, but she was going to let the White House Chief of Staff twist in the wind for a little longer. Besides, her ass was on the line right now, not his.

She decided to try and reach someone who might be a little more hospitable. The problem was, she was almost certain where that friend would be, and the last thing the media needed to find out was that this particular person was in the chemo ward of George Washington. Still, of all the people she needed to talk too, she was the only one who might view this with some discretion.

"I'm not the kind of person who believed revenge is a dish best served cold, but I could've feasted on that for days," David told Ellen.

"Try not to get caught up; the heady feeling goes away fast," Ellen told him.

David mentally wiped the grin off his face. "So what's your next move?"

"That's part of the reason I called. If you're right about how Olivia's going to respond, her next move will be to try and get the suit dismissed before we even get out of discovery. Which means we're going to be dealing with her attorney. Are we right that she's going to want to be keeping this in house?" Ellen asked.

"She's going to want as few new people learning about her business as possible," David agreed. "Before the end of business today, you're going to get a call from Harrison Wright."

"How good is he?"

"I've never had the pleasure of arguing against him," David admitted. "Usually, the guy's intimidating enough so that his opponent run screaming with even the threat of the courtroom. I think Olivia keeps him around just for being a pure alpha dog."

"Does he know what he's up against?"

"I think he has every idea who he's fighting, but I'll bet you any amount of money he doesn't know what he's fighting _for."_ He considered this. "Olivia's soldiers just raise the battle flag and charge. She wants him to make this suit go away; he'll do his damnedest to make it disappear."

"He's already called five times. Patty has been keeping him in limbo."

This wasn't standard practice, even on the Beltway. But despite the fact that this wasn't the way he would've wanted justice to be meted out, David only had one response. "Good."

Harrison knew that this was probably a bad idea. Olivia would probably consider it treason, Patty Hewes might cut his balls off, and the ABA- well, he'd long since stopped pretending that he thought being disbarred was the worst fate that could befall him.

But he walked into fire for Olivia. He solved problems for her. Quinn Perkins was one. She needed to be removed from the equation. And if Olivia wasn't going to do it, he would.

Some people would've been impressed at how little work it actually took to track one of the most respected civil attorneys in the world down when she wasn't in her office or at home. Most people didn't have Huck working for them. Harrison imagined he'd end up paying for that, too.

So, a little more than twenty-four hours after the lawsuit had been filed, Harrison cornered Patty at a small playground just outside Central Park, talking to her nanny.

"You must be very committed" he told her, as she looked up. "A lot of women your age wouldn't want to go through the trouble of raising another child."

Patty seemed taken aback. For five seconds. "I suppose I should be impressed that you finally managed to track me down," she told him slowly.

"So you know who I am."

"I've been making it my business to avoid you, Mr. Wright; of course I know who you are," Patty turned to her nanny. "Sandra, could you give Mr. Wright and me a moment? This won't take long."

At least she had the courtesy to give her grandson some space before they began.

"I have an offer that I want you to consider." he began.

"I think you know very well I have no intention of accepting any number you proffer," she told him.

"Three hundred and fifty million dollars is ludicrous even by the standards of unnecessary litigation," he pointed out.

"The people working at Cytron weren't mercenaries working in a dangerous job," Patty told him "If anything, I'm probably underestimating the amount I can receive at trial. You try and tell me how an intern working at his first job deserves to get blown to pieces on American soil, and his family receive neither justice nor compensation."

Harrison knew that he was about to negotiate a minefield, but that was what Olivia paid him to do, even if she didn't want him trying to walk through this particular DMZ. "That's very noble, and I imagine it'll make a brilliant sound bite for Anderson Cooper, but let's be honest, and not pretend that any of this is about the money." he began slowly.

"What is _it _about, Mr. Wright?" Patty seemed almost amused by the idea.

"Your clients don't want money. They'll take it, of course, but what they want is for the person responsible for the deaths of their loved ones to pay. "

"And Olivia Pope robbed them of their opportunity," Patty reminded him.

"Forgive me, but now you're just making stuff up," This was almost certainly bullshit, and Harrison knew it. There was no way the case could've been flat out dismissed without somebody's palm being greased, and while he didn't know why Olivia was going to extreme lengths to protect Quinn, he knew something had to have been done.

"You don't know what I know, Harrison, and soon enough the world is going to know just how dirty the woman you work for is." Patty was probably bluffing about this, and frankly, Harrison wanted to consider letting the case go forward just a bit longer to find out what she knew, but that wasn't his mission today.

"I didn't come here to exchange veiled threats, Patty, I came to make an offer. One that has nothing to do with money. " Here was the part that was going to get the bar pissed off if they ever found out about it.. "If you drop this lawsuit, I will give you Lindsey Dwyer."

Patty's expression didn't change one iota, but Harrison had been in that this long enough to know that this had clearly surprised her. "The entire reason that we are proceeding with this lawsuit is because Dwyer can't be prosecuted twice for the same crime."

"Dwyer was tried for murder, but she wasn't tried by the feds," Harrison paused. "And the method that she used to kill the victims of the bombing make her eligible to be prosecuted as a domestic terrorist.."

Patty looked at him for a moment. "You are, of course, aware that you are talking to one of the biggest opponents of the Patriot Act. I've been quoted on at least a dozen news sources on it." She didn't seem to be rejecting his idea, but she did seem a bit amused by the change of conversation.

"Well, then I guess you have make the decision whether your clients want their justice served."

Patty considered this. "You said you would give me Lindsey Dwyer. Just telling me a course of action is hardly giving me her."

"I may follow some questionable legal tactics, but I'm not going to just piss my entire career away. You've got the information you need. Hand it to the feds, and Dwyer will be in agency custody by the end of the week. I only ask that you drop the suit"

Patty seemed to be thinking this over before getting to her feet. "You get a good view of the skyline from here," she told him. "I always get a thrill looking at it."

Harrison had gotten through life by being able to read complete strangers on a glance. But he had never been up against someone just as good at it as he was. He knew better than to ask if they had a deal or even if she'd get back to him. "I've got a big drive back to DC."

"You should see the Flatiron Building," Patty replied almost casually. "Be a good way to spend your billable hours."

He decided to walk away, hoping that at the very least, he'd planted some kind of seed.

He had. Just not the one he wanted.

"I knew Wright was a crafty son of a bitch, I just didn't think he'd be that bold." Patty told Ellen that same night

"There are no grounds for this, of course,"

"That's never stopped Homeland Security from doing a disappearing act on someone," Patty reminded her. "But believe me, if the government wanted to throw Quinn Perkins in Gitmo, they would've done it by now. "

"So you think Olivia Pope is blocking it somehow," Ellen prodded.

"Maybe," She thought for a second. "I'll tell you this, though. If Olivia Pope was this bent on keeping Quinn safe, there's no way she would've done anything like Wright suggested. He wasn't acting as her lawyer, he was acting as someone trying to protect her. His loyalty stops at Pope's door."

"So what's the next move?"

Patty had given this some thought. "We need to find out what Lindsey Dwyer knows. Pope will never let that happen. So we're going to force her to make a choice."

Justice, it is said, moves slowly, but in the case of Olivia, it was moving like lightning. Barely three days had passed since Harrison had made his offer to Patty Hewes, yet somehow, she had managed to get an argument before the second circuit to move the sever Quinn Perkins from the suit against Pope and Associates.

In one sense, this motion would solve all of Olivia's problems. By making Perkins/Dwyer a separate defendant, the case against her all but collapsed. All Harrison would have to do was make a motion to dismiss on the basis that with Quinn being named in another suit, they had no grounds to carry on against Olivia.. Quinn Perkins would have been completely abandoned by her mentor, but the facts were indisputable. Olivia was his responsibility. Quinn wasn't.

So when Harrison went to tell Olivia that their problems were all but solved, he found her standing behind Quinn _ordering _him to have the motion quashed.

Harrison's natural desire to protect Liv was starting to ebb. In its place was a genuine frustration that she was putting herself in an unnecessary danger for reasons that she still was refusing to let him know.

"I need to talk with my client," he said in a tone with as much restraint as he could manage.

"We're both right here-" Olivia began.

"Not my boss. _My client." _Now he was getting angry. Quinn clearly saw what was going, made her apologies and left the room.

"I need you to tell me what the fuck's going on," he demanded.

"I'd watch your tone..." Olivia was starting to sound angry.

"You want to fire me? Go right ahead. But I should let you know, I'm not going to represent Dwyer unless I get a goddamn explanation as to why you have your head up your ass!"

He expected some anger, betrayal, anything at the fact that he was shouting in the face of the woman who'd been his benefactor for the last five year. Instead, she just got the rigid look on her face when she was about to tell him to do the impossible. "Her name is Quinn Perkins and she's been working her for the last year."

"Her name is Lindsey Dwyer, and she was tried for eight counts of homicide!" Harrison shouted back at her. "Now I know you think you have good reasons for protecting this woman, but this is not some fly-by-night attorney, looking to cash in. This is Patty Hewes. The only time she makes a settlement with a client is when they are completely broken down. I could offer half the U.S Mint, she'd still tell me to go fuck off, and if you're going to tell me to do the same, she's going to own your ass!"

For a very long time, he thought that maybe he'd gone too far. Then Olivia finally reacted. "There's no way my insurance is going to cover this."

It seemed like a non sequiteur, but at least it was something. "I'd be surprised if they covered a tenth of this."

"She knows I don't have anywhere near this kind of money."

Another one. "The money is arbitrary. For some reason she is burying her nose in our business, and unless I know what the hell is going on, I can't even begin to offer a defense." Harrison hesitated. "For the love of God, Liv, tell me what the fuck's going on. so I know what the hell we're up against."

Not for the first time, he wished that Olivia had hired outside council. They would've done what Olivia wanted without arguing and without needing an explanation. The same thing was happening here, but Harrison thought at least she would've respected him as a friend.

Once again, he had hopes that he might be abut to pierce the veil. Then she got that expression on her face when she was looking at him, but not seeing him. "Make a motion to bring this before a judge."

Olivia had made the others do some impossible things in the last couple of years, but she was asking something that no courtroom in the world was going to do. There were enough pretrial motions in this case to keep them in depositions for three years minimum. They were having an immense amount of trouble with the DC circuit just trying to decide jurisdiction. "Even if I wanted to, there are problems with the court calendar," he began slowly. "It'll take weeks-"

"Make a motion before the second circuit court; you'll be in front of a judge in three days," Olivia told him.

Up until now, Harrison had been concentrating all his efforts on making this problem go away. It had now occurred to him that Liv was trying to solve their problems herself. This should've been comforting. But he didn't feel at all cheered by how she was handling this. "Liv, what the hell is going on?"

"I'm your client right now. And an attorney's job is to do what his client wants. This is what I want you to do, _no questions asked." _Olivia stared at him. "Understand?

There was no arguing with her when she got like this. Harrison decided to leave and do what his client wanted, even though he was getting a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Quinn wished somebody would talk to her. She knew that the only reason Olivia was facing this massive lawsuit because of her. She had already been the office pariah ever since her real identity had been exposed, and ever since the suit had been filed little more than a week ago, not even Olivia was talking to her. In fact, she wasn't even sitting in the same room with her anymore.

When she was Lindsey Dwyer had been a big fan of the classic American short story 'The Man Without A Country', but she had always had severe doubts that even in 19th century America, a person could become that isolated from their fellow people. Now, more than a hundred and fifty years later, she could sympathize with the protagonist, because she had effectively become a Woman Without A History. Her father and her friends would no longer talk to her- Lindsey Dwyer might as well still be dead. And the people she had begun to think of as colleagues were freezing her out of the one place she still had to live. She couldn't even do the gallant thing and throw herself onto the grenade, because Olivia, the woman who had gone out of her way to save her, wouldn't even let her talk to Harrison. Effectively, she had become radioactive.

The only place she had any peace was when she was feeding the pigeons on the Mall every lunchtime. It was the only time anybody from the firm would leave her alone, and she had no illusions that Huck was still watching her from at least a hundred yards away. Now, she felt even more a prisoner than she ever had when she had been a murder suspect.

"They cause their stomachs to swell up."

Quinn blinked. A stranger was actually speaking to her. With the coming of Youtube and Facebook, it seemed that the world had taken on the thought that she was a living grotesquerie- someone that people would stare at, but not confront. She looked around for the source "Excuse me?"

"The breadcrumbs you're feeding the pigeons. According to the net, we're not supposed to feed birds bread crumbs because they cause the birds intestines to swell up until they explode." The man who had been speaking to her- a handsome thirtyish man with a cropped military-style haircut- had apparently sat on her bench without her noticing it. Not that he would have had to even attempt to be stealthy, considering how caught up in her thoughts Quinn was rights now.

"So that mean I'm just spreading death." Quinn didn't care how morbid she sounded right now.

"I don't think I'd be that bleak, but..." The man trailed off as she dropped some more breadcrumbs on the ground. " You're still doing it."

"Now you can say that I'm only doing what comes naturally," she said bleakly.

"Say to who?"

"Where are you from? Huffington Post? CNN? Maybe you're a stringer from, dare I say it, print journalism?" Quinn shook her head. "Whoever you are, I've got nothing to say."

The man looked a little perturbed, then amused. "You know, they told me people in DC were ultra cynical, I just didn't think the nobodies were like that, too."

"Don't demean both of us by pretending you don't know who I am," Quinn didn't know why she wasn't just getting up and walking away. Maybe it was because this space, this little park bench, was the only thing left she had in the world.

"You're not one of those Kardashians, are you? I wouldn't recognize one of them if they walked right up to me." He took out a brown paper bag, and removed a sandwich.

"Nancy Grace has been calling for me to be strung up every fifteen minutes," Quinn wasn't sure why she was trying to force this man to recognize her.

"I've got an idea. How 'bout I eat my lunch and you go back to killing your birds and we'll just pretend that I never opened my mouth," The man shook his head. "You've obviously got a serious case of brooding to get through and I'm not going to help things."

Peace and quiet. Suddenly, they seemed the last thing Quinn wanted right now. "I'm Lindsey, by the way."

"Wes," the man said before returning to his sandwich.

Second Circuit Court

Washington D.C.

Ellen knew that actions of the kind that Patty was filing against Pope and Associates were subject to the kind of holding actions that could last for years, and that even finding the right judge to file under could take months of positioning. Patty had been initially determined to file in Los Angeles, where the crime and most of the litigants were still living, and where she was likely to run against fewer judges who Olivia could have influence over. Wright had been just as determined to file in D.C., where the suspect and main defendant currently resided, and not coincidentally, he would have home court advantage.

Patty was as ruthless as a Roman General when it came to winning almost every conceivable motion, so it had been a huge surprise when she had yielded and agreed to fight the battle in Wright's territory. Ellen had been even more amazed when the initial motion to dismiss was filed, and Patty told Ellen that she wanted her to argue it in court. When she asked why Patty wasn't planning even to be present in court, she had gotten an answer that was odd: "This litigation can't be all about me."

Ellen didn't like getting the idea among her fellow associates that Patty was grooming her for a quick rise to partnership by allowing her to represent the firm in the first real argument in such a high-profile case. More to the point, she couldn't understand why her boss having snatched up this case with such zeal, was now appearing to back away from her initial high-profile presentation. She smelled that there was some kind of setup here, but even considering everything Patty and she had been through, she had known better than to ask her about it.

Instead, she decided to concentrate on her first close up impression of Harrison Wright. Tall and handsome, he seemed to have a facade of bravado built up, but Ellen could tell that he was a lot more nervous about this hearing than she was.

"This action is the definition of a frivolous litigation. There is no evidence at all that Olivia Pope was remotely involved in these tragic deaths."

"Your Honor, one of the defendant's employees- someone who works right alongside Mr. Wright for that matter- was arrested and tried for these eight homicides."

"The charges were dismissed,"

"And it is our belief that the defendant was instrumental in getting the case thrown out."

The judge considered this for a moment. "According to the trial transcript, the case was dismissed when the defense attorney made a motion on the basis that the prosecution had not met the burden of proof."

"He made that same motion at the start of the trial, and it was denied."

"And you don't think it was possible the judge had simply not been convinced by the prosecution's case?"

This was a tricky thing to do even if Patty had been handling it. Judges didn't like the implication that they were incompetent or independent, even if there was evidence of it. Ellen was going to be negotiating an ocean of mines. "Your honor, Miss Pope is well known within the Beltway for her political prowess. We believe it's very possible someone who owed her a favor would be willing to turn a blind eye."

"This might work for parking offenses or a DUI, but I find it impossible to believe a criminal judge would just follow Miss Pope's order to dump a high-profile homicide case."

"And yet, Mr. Wright, that's exactly what it looks like," the judge said sternly. "I must tell you, these are very troubling accusations."

"Which are baseless and have no relevance to this case," Wright quickly recovered.

"A minute ago, you were telling us these accusations were frivolous. Pick an adjective and stick with it, Mr. Wright," Ellen volleyed.

"This is hardly the time for hilarity, Miss Parsons. These are very serious allegations to both Miss Pope and a learned colleagues reputation," The judge looked at her. "Do you have any proof to back up your accusation?"

"Your honor, we've barely begun the process of discovery in this case, but the evidence has already been laid out for us. Lindsey Dwyer, a woman certain to face a trial and conviction in the murders of eight people, vanishes before she can be arrested. Six months later, she begins working for Olivia Pope under the name of Quinn Perkins. When Perkins is arrested and tried for the crime, Olivia Pope provides her with an expensive criminal attorney, jury consultant, and an assemblage of council that made the Dream Team look like public defenders. And the charges are dismissed without Miss Dwyer having to put up a defense. _Res Ipsa Loquiteur_, your honor."

"There's no causative link, your Honor. There's not even circumstantial evidence. What Miss Parson and her colleagues are arguing is isolated facts and says that they add up to a massive criminal conspiracy. It's paranoid ranting with no basis for any kind of litigation against my client."

"All right, I've heard enough," The judge folded his hands. "While I'll admit that I was not entirely persuaded that the judgment to dismiss the case against Lindsey Dwyer was the correct one, the plaintiff has not offered any concrete evidence of either criminal conspiracy or judicial corruption. All she presents is evidence of evidence, and that is not enough for the case to go forward at this time. Absent that proof, I have no choice but to dismiss this lawsuit."

Harrison had emerged victorious, but just as on the night that Quinn's trial had been kicked, he felt no cause to celebrate. He had no evidence to back up his claim, but he was certain that the fix had been in the moment he had walked in the courtroom. Which was why rather than drinking champagne, he was checking his iPad trying to find any kind of link between Olivia and the presiding judge. The fact that he had been at it for an hour and had not found one did nothing to reduce his certainty.

What he didn't understand was, given the high-profile nature of the case, Patty Hewes hadn't been anywhere near the courtroom or even the city. Nor had she given any press conference expressing her dismay and/or outrage at what had just happened. Hell, she should've been out there protesting that this was just another example of the length to which those in power would go to, to protect their secrets. It would've been his next move, if he had been working the other side of the case.

Olivia might be celebrating, but Harrison was certain that the business was far from over.

Olivia knew that making this visit was particularly risky, but given the circumstances and their past relationship, she didn't want to do this over the phone.

She waited until the nurse had finished placing the IV. "Justice Thornton," she told her friend.

"It's just you, me and the chemotherapy," Justice Thornton told her old friend, "Please, Verna."

"I needed to thank you for what you've done for me," Olivia told her friend. "I realize how much you had to extend yourself given what happened the last time I asked for a favor."

"Olivia, I realize how important Quinn Perkins fate is to this country. You have my word that I will do whatever it takes to protect her." Thornton hesitated, then waited for the chemicals to go through her.

"Olivia, I will protect her as long as I live. But you know as well as I do, those days are numbered." Thornton held on. "And when our friends find out about this, they will be pressing for a final solution."

"It's over, Verna. The crisis has been averted." Olivia knew that there wasn't much point in telling a woman with cancer false promises. Nor did she bother to hide the fact, that she believed in her heart of hearts that they would be facing this again.

"I'm not one to dictate legal strategy, but the case gets dismissed, and you don't seem to care?" David knew that Patty wasn't someone to get pissed off, but at this point he was having a hard time caring.

"We needed to get a measure of our opponent, and now we have," Patty told him calmly - far calmer then David expected. "Now we know which way they're going to come at us."

"So the case against Olivia isn't done."

"One avenue has been closed off. Now we know where to strike next, and how. Calm down, David. You will get another swing at her."

_5 Months Later_

_"What the hell is going on Cyrus?"_

_"You heard the press conference," Cyrus was saying._

_"I didn't have to. DC Homicide came right to my house. Apparently, I'm suspect number one is David's death." There was a long hesitation. "I told you not to do this."_

_"If you'd been willing to get your hands dirty months ago, we could've avoided all this!_

_"Don't tell me about how messy things are. My career has been decimated by this. Now I'm not going to prison. So you tell me, Cyrus, did you give the order to have David killed?"_

_Cyrus took a deep breath. "Olivia, I swear to you I didn't. have this done."_

_Olivia Pope would never believe a word he said. What she didn't know - yet- was that for once, the White House Chief of Staff was being completely honest with her._


	4. Just Make This Go Away

Chapter 4

_Just Make This Go Away_

_Baltimore_

_The deeper the investigation into Cytron had gotten, the more bodies had started to come to the surface, both figuratively and literally. Ellen knew that this was not necessarily Patty's fault, considering the depths of the affair, but she had gotten increasingly tired of losing people._

_So when Wes had called a few hours earlier to tell her that David Rosen had been tortured, murdered and had his body dumped in the Potomac, she found herself only feeling minor surprise. The fact that David's death was not directly Patty's fault, didn't make her feel much better- she had supposed she should've known better than to form attention. Nor was she enormously worried about how much danger she and Patty might be in themselves- they'd effectively been at the mattresses for the last month._

_What ultimately filled her with dismay and some alarm, was the utter pointlessness of the murder. By now, the case had progressed and widened so much in scope that David's dying would stop nothing. If anything, it would make sure that the rest of the media that had been ignoring the story would give it the attention they thought that it deserved. And it deserved a lot._

_"Do they have any idea who might have killed him?" she asked, not expecting an answer- the people behind the killing were professional enough to not even leave a hint of a breadcrumb, especially not to the police._

_"They've just finished searching David's apartment," Wes told her. "Looks like some kind of battle royal went down there. Broken furniture, broken windows, and there's enough blood here for a dozen crime scenes."_

_This didn't make any sense at all. From what David had told him the further in they got, these people were religious when it came to cleaning up after themselves. Hell, they definitely would've done a far better job disposing of the body. The fact that there was a crime scene at all seemed to indicate that either these people were leaving a false trail, or that this wasn't government sanctioned.._

_"They do an autopsy yet?" Ellen asked._

_"David Rosen was tortured and beaten before they were through with him," Wes told them. "Looks like he bled out. But they may not have meant to kill him."_

_"They?"_

_"When Homicide heard I used to be a cop, they gave me a certain amount of freedom around the crime scene. I'm seeing three sets of tracks here, and the bloodworm seems to indicate that somebody came in the room while the first guy was working Rosen over."_

_Ellen started to go cold. There were a lot of possibilities in this case for suspect now, but she and Patty knew of at least one person would was capable of doing this kind of violence and for who this person worked. More to the point, they knew someone like that who might have an interest in having the truth come to light. "Tell DC to send out a bolo for Olivia Pope," she demanded. "Tell them to send it out to Baltimore."_

_"Olivia's in DC," Wes was clearly confused._

_"The suspect's on his way to Baltimore," she said as calmly as she could to a man who had once cared for her. "He's on his way to finish what he started."_

4 Months Earlier

In the three weeks since Olivia's case had been dumped, she had begun to hope that things were going to return to normal.

Patty Hewes had made protests about government conspiracies in her only press conference, but she had made no further efforts to reopen the case against her. Never had Olivia been more grateful for the fickleness of the media and the need to fill a twenty-four hour news cycle. Three days after her case had been dismissed, a senator had gotten caught frequenting a gay bar in his home states, and the jackals were surrounding him. Politicians seemed to have a shorter memory media; the Senator's first call was to her.

She would've felt better about things getting back to a typical workday, if the people who worked for her didn't seem a little sidetracked. Oh, they were still following her every command, but now they seemed to be stealing glances at her every time they thought she wasn't looking.

Harrison in particular was beginning to behave a little more restrained every time he said anything. The case was over, but he was now clearly convinced that his invincible boss now had feet of clay. He didn't believe she had anything to do with those murders, but he was probably convinced she was covering up for someone who did. Every time a client called, he was more thorough in doing background work than usual. It was clear he was looking for the person who'd turned his boss' iron ethics into aluminum foil. But she knew that she had nothing to worry about.

None of them knew about Defiance.

But she felt given enough distance and other events, they would move on to other crises. Cyrus hadn't mentioned the subject in more than two weeks, so it was clear that he wasn't getting any pressure from Hollis. The fact that Mellie had given birth a week ago might have been part of his preoccupation, but she knew very well that he had an even longer memory for this than she did.

She had almost begun to believe they might finally be over the hard part, when Quinn came into her office in near hysterics

"The guy was just waiting for me at my home," she told Olivia. "Did you get one of these?"

She was holding a subpoena. "I thought we were done with this," she told her

Harrison and Abby were now in the office. "Christ, doesn't this woman ever give up?" Abby demanded. "The court already threw her last case out."

Harrison in the meantime was studying the piece of paper. "Harrison, this has to qualify as specious litigation," she told him

"I knew that Hewes gave up too fast," he said quietly. "Look who she's suing."

Olivia looked at the subpoena. The previous ones had all read _Pope & Associates _and had listed all their names as litigants. Now she knew why nobody had come to their office with a similar piece of paper. There was only one name marked as a defendant: _Lindsey Dwyer._

Abby didn't follow this all. "She has to know there's no money attached to suing Quinn."

"She's not suing Quinn; she's suing Dwyer."

"That's splitting hairs!"

"Lawsuits can be won on the strength of these same hair-splitting," Harrison pointed out.

"Then make sure she doesn't get a chance," Olivia ordered. "Get into court and get this thrown out fast."

"If I move too quickly, you won't have time to get the envelopes ready," Harrison told her.

Now Olivia was worried in a way more than the second lawsuit. Harrison wouldn't even have made that joke before; much less in the presence of his boss. "Excuse me?'

"Come on, Liv. Hewes' first case was circumstantial, but she had more than enough to make into discovery. No way the case gets kicked if everything's legitimate." Harrison looked at her. "I don't know what marker you had to call in to get Phelan to drop the sui-"

"If you want to keep your job, I'd watch what my next words were." Olivia's voice had dropped in temperature considerably.

"So would I," Harrison countered. "If I go into court, I'm not representing this firms interests; I'm representing hers."

"They are one and the same," Olivia's voice brooked no dispute.

"Not according to Patty Hewes." Neither did Harrison's "And right now, she's the biggest name attached to the suit. You want me to get rid of this fast, I'll try. But I've gotta tell you, being known as Olivia Pope's lawyer isn't going to make the best argument possible."

"And as the person whose ass is currently on the line, I'd prefer to have someone who is representing my interests," Quinn seemed to have regained her composure very quickly.

"What ?" Olivia asked, not sure she'd heard right.

"All those TV appearances that Harrison was making last time around, all of those deals, they were about protecting the firm," Quinn demanded. "Now, as grateful as I am for everything you've given me, the fact is nobody seemed very interested in what I thought was best for me."

Olivia had only thought she'd begun to worry.

"Considering all we've done for you, I'd think you would remember who your friends are." Abby was saying.

"That's why coming to this office has been such a joy ever since you found out who I was," Quinn, who had been afraid to hear a door slam when she came here, was practically snarling at Abby now.

"Enough!" Olivia raised her voice to a level that had always demanded attention. She got it here, but it took longer than it usually did. "Nothing has changed from last time. Someone attacks one of us; the rest of us move in. Now Hewes is suing Quinn, which means that she doesn't care about the money any more. Harrison, get this thing in a courtroom and get it tossed. Abby, get on CNN and start telling the world how single-minded she is in trying to find intrigue where there is none."

"Olivia," Quinn seemed to be recovering. "The media's going to be staking out my apartment."

"We'll find you another place to live, but for now..."

Quinn sighed. A month ago the media had found the apartment she'd had to move to after the murder conviction. For much of the two weeks the case had been in the news, she had basically lived in the office. "Tell Huck to go by my place, and get some of the basic necessities."

"I'll do that." In fact, Olivia wanted Huck to do the same kind of security sweep he had done when she moved in. From what she knew of Patty Hewes operation, she wouldn't have put it past her to try and wire the place. She had no doubt the place was already under surveillance.

They were, as it happened. But the people watching Quinn's apartment had no interest in finding her. Without knowing it, she had given Patty exactly what she wanted.

"Perkins hasn't come back to the apartment since she got served," Wes was telling Patty and Ellen. "But yesterday evening, this guy shows up. "

He showed her the printout of the digital photo they had taken of the building's exterior. It showed a bearded man, roughly six feet tall, with a military bearing, and a business-like approach.

"He spends an hour in the building, which is at least fifty minutes longer than it should realistically take to pack the suitcase he leaves with." Wes told him. "He might have decide to spend it jerking off, but my guess, he was either looking for bug and microscopic cameras, or more likely, taking down the ones he set when she moved in. As you can see, same mystery man did the same thing when Quinn Perkins moved out of her old apartment."

"And you have still no idea who he is," Patty stated.

"The federal government doesn't seem to know who he is," Wes tried to not let his irritation show. "He hasn't left behind any fingerprints or DNA evidence, but I kinda figured that would be a given. What I find very concerning is how this same man managed to live his entire life without getting a driver's license or basically any other state or federal identification. Which leads to me to think that we're looking at Patty's covert operative."

"You think he's ex-military?" Ellen asked.

"I'm ex-military, and it's easier to find something of mine with a picture on it. " Wes told them slowly. "I'm thinking something involving covert-ops. Special Forces, NSA, maybe."

"How does a Washington Insider like Pope find someone like that?" Patty asked. "Take out an ad in Soldier of Fortune?"

"You've clearly never read that publication," Wes became serious. "Look, how much time do you want me to spend chasing down this phantom?"

Patty considered this. "This is probably the person who bugged David Rosen's apartment, and probably handled a lot of Pope's other messes. I'm not sure why, but I think that this man is key to this whole affair. We find out who he is, we know how Pope is linked to this bombing. Now, if this man is ex-intelligence, I may know someone who can help us put a name to the face."

"When do we meet him?" Ellen asked.

"Depends what bar he's frequenting," Patty turned her attention to Wes. "If I'm Olivia Pope, and Lindsey Dwyer has started to become a liability, the next thing I would do is put her under guard 24-7."

"What makes you think she hasn't done that already?" Wes demanded. "For all we know, she's got her under armed guard with that guy holding an AK-47."

"We need to find a way to talk to her, which means we've got to get this motion to dismiss kicked now." Ellen told her. "Which we're not going to be able to do if Pope's got another judge in her pocket."

"Which means a preemptive strike," Patty told them. "File a counter-motion for a relocation of jurisdiction. Tell them we don't believe we can get a fair trial in D.C. Emphasize how many people the woman's helped in that area."

"Considering how long and how far her reach is, where the hell do you expect us to get a fair trial?" Ellen asked, not unreasonably.

"That's going to be part of the challenge," Patty actually sounded like there was zest in her voice for the first time. "I've got a couple of ideas, but first we knock down this motion to dismiss. Wright's going to be cocky."

"He has every reason to be. He's one-for-one in this department." Ellen pointed out.

"The odds are going to be stacked against him this time," Patty took out her cell. "Pope's not the only one who has friends in high places."

2 Days Later

As much as Harrison was convinced the fix would be in for this argument, he badly wanted to win. Not out of any desire to protect Quinn; he was starting to wish he'd never met her in the first place.

He had always been convinced that there was something far darker beneath the bombing then a simple lover's dispute. David Rosen might be a little too much of a white hat for Harrison taste, but he was anything but a fool. The fact that Olivia had sent Abby as a Trojan Horse only indicated that there was something far more sinister than the deaths of eight people. And Olivia clearly was in a position where she wanted the cover-up to remain in place, but not damage anybody that she cared about.

Harrison already felt shitty that he had destroyed Abby and David's relationship, and it didn't make him feel much better when he realized that it might ultimately do her, or anybody else here, no good. They were all under the microscope, and the pressure was going to be intensified

So, as much as Harrison wanted to know what the fuck it was he was protecting them from, he was beginning to feel that this whole mess had to go away before things escalated. He was the glad the motion had gone through, but he wasn't naive enough to think that things were going to go anywhere near as smoothly.

Especially when he strode into court, and saw that Patty was now on the other side of the courtroom along with Ellen Parsons. Suddenly, he was very nervous about the grin on her face.

"Miss Hewes," he said slowly.

"I hope you're better in the courtroom then when it comes to making deals," she told him

"I prevailed last time," Harrison replied.

"Did you?" she countered. "'Cause it sure looks like you're right back where you started."

She was a little too confident. Suddenly, he worried what motions she was going to argue against her. He wanted to win fast.

"Miss Hewes has already made this argument. We don't allow clients a second bite at the apple."

"That's in criminal courts, not when it comes to civil litigation," Patty Hewes was endlessly calm.

"The respondents in this case currently works for one of the previous defendants," Harrison argued. "She's bringing the same case forward with no new evidence."

"My clients are not suing Olivia Pope. They are suing Lindsey Dwyer."

"It amounts to the same thing," Harrison was starting to sound a bit heated.

"No, it does not," Patty argued. "The lawsuit in question was against Quinn Perkins, not Lindsey Dwyer. And while Quinn Perkins may be an employee and client of Olivia Pope, Lindsey Dwyer never was. I have the printouts of the filing with the county clerk to verify this."

"That is hair-splitting, your honor!" Harrison tried not to sound like he hadn't made this exact argument to Olivia less than a week ago.

"Yes, it is a technicality, but considering how strong the last suit that was argued against this court was, it's a technicality I'm more than willing to overlook." The judge was starting to sound friendly, never a good sign.

"All right, let's say that your honor lets the case proceed on those grounds," Harrison had not come unprepared. "Lindsey Dwyer doesn't have anywhere near the amount of money that the plaintiff is suing for. Even a cursory examination of Dwyer's finances reveals that she is virtually judgment proof. To let this suit go forward would be a waste of the courts time and money with no benefit to the plaintiffs."

The judge considered this. "Miss Hewes, any response?"

Patty hesitated. "Two of the clients I'm representing are George and Priscilla Nash. Their son Devon was interning at Cytron the day of the bombing. He had just finished college, and was taking some time off before going to business school. He was George and Priscilla's only child, and his death shattered them. George and Priscilla are worth somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty million dollars. They are in no more need of money than myself or Mr. Wright. What they want is justice for their son. Now the criminal court here in DC denied them any hope of seeing Miss Dwyer punished for her crime. The only remedy they have is a judgment against her in civil court. They know that no amount of money will bring their son back, but this is the only way they can have a measure of peace from this. I implore you, your honor, don't outright deny them this."

An emotional appeal. A pretty convincing one. And it worked on Judge Rayburn. It took her less than five minutes to decide that the case against Lindsey Dwyer was going to move forward

"Now there are two separate motions before this court filed by the plaintiff's attorney," The judge took up the first paper. "You're asking to relocate out of DC altogether. On what grounds?"

"We believe that, due to the vast political influence that the defendant's current employer has, it may be next to impossible to find jurisdiction in this city that would be capable of ruling in our favor."

"You're not suing Olivia Pope, but you think her mere presence can unduly affect your case?" Harrison countered.

"You're representing her, aren't you?' Patty asked.

"Which I suppose is the reason for your second motion to have the defendant's attorney reccuse himself," Judge Rayburn continued.

"Now anyone who even shook Miss Pope's hand is as dirty as she is?" Now Harrison couldn't help himself. "Your honor, leaving aside the vicious stain Miss Hewes is tarnishing me with. Olivia Pope has a very broad list of clients, including eight governors, three ambassadors, and the Prime Minister of Venezuela. Where does Miss Hewes think would be a fair place to hold this trial so Olivia Pope wouldn't influence it? The moon?"

"I'd settle for Baltimore, your honor," Patty replied.

"There any reason for it, or did you just do a random search on Googleearth?," the judge asked.

"Miss Pope worked out the White House for her most famous benefactor," Patty said calmly. "According to the previous election, Maryland went for the Democrats by the largest vote count in the entire country. I believe that we can count on a certain measure of impartiality, considering that."

One of the most recent clients Olivia had was Governor Stanton of Maryland. Having been witness to the encounter, Harrison could say with certainty that Stanton wouldn't tolerate any nonsense or be inclined to do anything to help Olivia. Either Patty didn't know this, which he seriously doubted, or she figured this was probably the best bet she was going to get to go forward.

"Does the defense have any objections to holding the trial in Baltimore?" the judge asked. "Because unless you can come up with a pertinent one, I'm inclined to agree with the plaintiff's attorney."

Considering that it would be months before they were even ready to go to trial, Harrison couldn't see any reason to objecting to this. "No, your honor."

"Before we go any further, I'd like a hearing on my other motion," Patty pressed.

"There's no need to press, Miss Hewes," the judge replied. "I find the ethics of Mr. Wright serving perhaps at the beck of two masters, one of whom he has served far longer, more than a bit questionable. However, since the scope of this trial has been narrowed to focus on the guilt or innocence of Lindsey Dwyer, I don't see any reason why Mr. Wright cannot continue to act as her attorney. Do you have any argument why this shouldn't be the case?"

Now Harrison got incredibly nervous. This was Patty's best chance to throw him under the bus, and she wouldn't even get a slap on the wrist from the bar for her revelation. Which is why he was flabbergasted when Patty Hewes simply said: "I believe the very fact of Mr. Wright's presence should be evidence enough. Beyond that, I have no proof."

"Then I have no choice but to deny your second motion. I will, however, leave room for appeal should further evidence come to light." Judge Rayburn took a look at Harrison. "I'm glad I'm not in your eleven and a half D's, Mr. Wright. Court adjourned."

Rayburn banged her gavel, and that was that.

Olivia was probably going to tear him a new asshole when she heard that he hadn't been able to get rid of this case. a second time. Then again, considering her shouldn't have been able to get rid of the first time, she was in no position to be arguing.

Harrison was halfway out the door when he felt a tap on his should. It was Patty, and she was standing by herself. This did not bode well. "Mr. Wright, a further moment of your time."

Of course. This was the traditional Hewes treatment. Why embarrass in public those you can destroy in private? "You've already gotten your motions, Patty; what else can I give you: my first born?"

"Very interesting choice of phrase, Harrison, but I was actually a little surprised how vigorously you fought for your client." Patty waited. "Especially considering the last little meeting we had before this one."

_There's the knife._ "If you thought it was serious enough, why don't you go to Judge Rayburn's chambers and tell her yourself?" Harrison responded. "The two of you seem pretty chummy."

"Considering the reach your boss has, you're in no position to be arguing bias."

"The defendant is Lindsey Dwyer. As you made abundantly clear, she's the only one were dealing with now."

"Really? So I guess the first thing you did when you began to represent Miss Dwyer, was tell her about the little ex parte meeting we had before you managed to make the last case mysteriously disappear." She knew more about what had happened with the last judge than he had.

"That was when I thought you had an interest in Olivia's scalp. I don't know what the fuck you're after now." Harrison responded.

"We're not talking about your boss; we're talking about your client. You know, the same woman you were willing to throw under the bus not a month ago?" Patty had a bone in her teeth now. "So stop bullshitting and pretending that this is just about Quinn Perkins."

This was not a conversation to have with opposing council. He should be having it with Olivia, but she seemed determined to shut him out. Patty, at least, was showing some cards. "We seem to be going the long way to end up at the same place," he tried again. "I ask: what do you want?"

"For you to ask the questions your boss is going out of her way not to have answered," Patty told her. "You might want to consider that when I begin depositions. By the way, here's my initial witness list." She handed him a slip of paper. "I'd start preparing your defense. And don't worry. Your names not on the list." She started walking. "Yet."

"I almost never say this, so you should probably savor the moment," Patty said a few hours later. "Thank you, David."'

"Hey, it's a good thing you are who you are," David told Patty. "I don't have a lot of chits left considering how much trouble I got in going after Perkins the first time."

"Well, it got us a foot in the door," Ellen told him.

"You're going to have to do the rest of the heavy lifting yourself," David told them. "My office has next to no pull in Maryland."

"This isn't the typical civil action, and you know it," Patty reminded him. "This is going to be like setting up dominos. We just have to figure out which is the right one to knock over, and the rest will be easy."

"I wish I had your confidence," David told them. "And I'd be goddamn sure that you have your office swept every day. "

"Pope won't try the same trick twice. It's one thing to bug a single attorney; if she was willing to wire all one hundred and forty people I have working at Hewes & Associates."

David didn't give any answer for a moment. "She might not have to," he told them. "She's got friends who are more than willing."

"You've never given us a direct answer as to who you thought was at the center of this," Ellen told them. "Considering that you're probably going be the first person on our witness list, I think we've got a right to know what exactly we're facing."

Again, David didn't answer right away. "You're smart people. You've probably got a good idea already."

"You know as well as I do, the last thing a lawyer needs going into a deposition is to be surprised." Patty asked. "Draw me a picture."

_Patty Hewes is asking me for help. There's something you want on your resume._ "I have no definitive proof on anything. Just innuendo and backdoor gossip."

"Sometimes those are the best things to have."

Even David didn't know how deep the relationship between Olivia Pope and the President was, so he still just dealt with what he knew for sure. "Olivia may not work at the White House anymore, but she's worked for them long enough that they've gotta be number one on the speeddial."

"Even though she represented Amanda Tanner for awhile," It was not a question.

"She helped the President win the election. That kind of relationship gives you pull for a very long time," David reminded her. "I think if she asked, Cyrus Beene would have the NSA authorize a tap on your law firm."

"So you're saying this case could come down to being us against the government," Patty said.

"Almost seems like a fair fight," Ellen muttered.

_The man who Olivia Pope knew only as Charlie took a phone call from a scrambled phone._

_"You did a shitty job."_

_"I didn't really.-"_

_"I don't want to hear your excuses. You're just going to make it right." Pause. "Finish the job."_

_"Do they know-"_

_"Finish. The job. Then disappear. You can do that remember?" The call disconnected._

"So now I'm being sued. Not the firm, just me," Quinn was saying.

"So this is your third case in a year," Wes told her. "Still think Gotti has you beat."

Quinn couldn't even manage a smile at this witticism. "It's never going to end, is it? I'm going to be in the endless news cycle. Jon Stewart's never going to stop talking about me."

"This is Washington. Can't your boss just make this go away? It seems to be what she does."

"That's all she wants to do. Make this go away." Quinn's voice started to turn bitter. "Not vindicate me, not listen to my side of the story. Just make this go away. I'm a problem to be solved, not someone who works for her. Which would be fine if she was just talk to me."

"I thought she hired you." Wes asked.

"She doesn't even look at me any more." Quinn was starting to look as though she might cry. "My fiancé is dead, my father won't answer my phone calls, and now the people I work for keep acting if I smell bad."

In the month that she had been having conversations with Wes, he had never volunteered any information or advice. He just listened to her. He was the only person in months who actually seemed to give a damn about what she had to say without offering any judgment. The time at this bench was probably the high point of her day, and if Olivia found out about it, she would probably lock her back up in the cage that Pope & Associates had become.

She knew that she hadn't any idea who this guy was- for all she knew, he might be gathering material to write the bestseller that was probably going to be appearing any day now. The sad part was, even if she was the victim of a humongous con, part of her didn't care. No one else gave a damn about what she wanted to say or what she wanted to do. At least, this guy was being nice to here. It had been months- probably years- since anybody had done that. _Guess I'm not much of a gladiator after all._

"You live in the media capital of the world. Why not just tell your side of the story?" Wes asked.

"Olivia and the others-"

"Pardon my French, but fuck what Olivia Pope thinks. She's not the one whose ass is being reamed every ten minutes on CNN." Wes told her. "She's already made it clear she doesn't give a fuck as to what you want. This town's motto is "Every man for himself.' You have to protect your interests if no one else is."

"With what? I have no money, and my only asset right now is with Olivia. She may be next to no help, but it's still help. I can't survive on wishes and dreams."

"You think the story of Quinn Perkins wouldn't give you an immense line of credit?" Wes had never referred to her as Lindsey and a part of her was still grateful for it. "You're an inside voice to some of the country's biggest insiders. How does that not make you a force to be reckoned with?

The fact was, Quinn was still seeing herself as Olivia Pope's student. Betraying her seemed like an immense step that she still wasn't willing to take. Yeah, Olivia wasn't exactly saving her, but she hadn't turned her over to anyone yet, even though the pressure on her had to be incalculable. And that did stand for something, considering the forces-

_What forces? _she suddenly thought. _The police, the U.S. Attorney's office? Olivia eats those kind of things for breakfast. Had a client of hers gotten into that kind of trouble, Olivia would have gotten rid of them weeks ago. Who the hell is she afraid of?_

Why had she never asked this question before? Suddenly she found herself getting to her feet.

"Did I say something wrong?" Wes asked

"I have to go," she said, barely taking notice of Wes as she began to walk back to the office.

"Witness list from Patty Hewes," Harrison was showing the papers to the staff at Pope & Associates. "Guess who's the first person she's wants us to depose."

"David," Abby said gloomily.

"Can you do anything to put pressure on him from the outside?" Olivia asked Harrison. "He got his job back by promising not to do anything relating to Quinn. Isn't this the kind of thing that could get him fired?"

Harrison shook his head. "Unless they can find a causative link between him and Hewes, my guess is they can't do anything. This isn't his baby anymore, it's Patty's, and she's going to be a lot more vicious then he is." He took a deep breath, then looked at Abby. "Is there anything you can tell me about the case that he let on?"

"He's not interested in Quinn, and we all know it," Abby pointed out. "He was using it as a springboard for larger issues. Which is exactly what Patty's going to do when she hears what he has to say. And the minute he mentions the phrase government conspiracy-"

"-Hewes will be on that shit like white on rice," Harrison now looked right at his boss. He hadn't told her about the deal that he had thrown at Patty a month ago, knowing how much of a non-starter it was for her. Nevertheless, he figured he had to get at it now. "I think right now this firm has to seriously considering withdrawing as Quinn's-"

_"No!"_

Olivia hadn't even let him finish. "We may not have a choice in the matter very soon," he tried again. "Patty already smells something hinky about me representing Quinn. When she starts figuring out that there might actually be something a lot bigger than just the cover-up of eight homicides, she's going to put her bombsight back on this firm, and figuring out whatever the fuck it is we are guilty of!"

"We're not guilty of anything," Olivia insisted.

"For once, I agree with you," Harrison had stalled around this for weeks; it was time to hit it head on. "I'm not guilty of anything. Neither is Abby, and I'm pretty sure Huck isn't either. Which leaves you?"

Olivia looked at him. "I don't like what you're implying."

"Maybe if you _told _me why you're determined to take this bullet for Quinn, I wouldn't have to _imply _anything!" Harrison was tired of dancing around his boss. The fact that she might fire him now seemed less than potent threat.

"I would watch my tone if I were-"

"Harrison's not out of bounds, Liv," Abby got to her feet for. "For months, you've had us dancing around Quinn and David as if we were trying to dispose of bombs, but you haven't bothered to tell us how explosive they are, or the best way to handle them. You've had us argue defenses, you've had us get sued, you had me get close to David, all the time promising that it was in our interest without bothering to tell us why!"

Olivia took this abuse, but again her face remained stubborn. "Our ranks are getting thin. Stephen resigned. Do you really want Quinn..."

"Her name is Lindsey Dwyer, and she's the fucking defendant!" All restraint went out of Harrison's voice. "Now either tell us what this woman means to you or the ranks will get even thinner!"

Now she started to pale. "You can't mean that."

"Shit or get off the pot, Liv! I can't wage a defense with my hands tied behind my back, and that is what you are doing!"

Olivia looked around. It was clear that she had stalled for as long as she possibly could. In all the years Harrison had worked for her, this was the first time he had seriously threatened to resign. "It's very complicated," she began.

"Then you'd better start explaining it. Because when Patty Hewes subpoenas you, she will ask for you to go into detail." Harrison told her.

"We are not representing Quinn because it's the right thing to do," Olivia began slowly. "We are doing it because if we- if I don't fully protect her, they will make her disappear."

There was only one question to ask, but Abby asked it. "Who?"

"I can't tell you. "Olivia held up her hand. "But I will tell my lawyer. On the condition that he continues to retain me and Quinn as his council. "

"So I'm being left out in the cold," Abby was trying not to sound hurt, and not doing a very good job of it- another sign that things had been getting very cold around here.

"Right now, the fewer people who know about this, the better," Olivia tried to reassure her. "I wouldn't tell Harrison without the safety of privilege."

"And if I get served?" Trying to subpoena opposing council was a trick nine lawyers out of ten wouldn't dare try. Unfortunately, Patty was the tenth.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides," she looked at Abby, "my guess is you've got some idea as to who might be involved in this."

There was a certain measure of truth to this, so Abby decided to leave the room. Not before she began to wonder if Olivia had been more direct not only when it came to her seeing David, but also to make sure that she stopped.

The moment she left the room, Harrison looked at Olivia. "Who are we protecting Quinn from?"

"The same person who set her up for the Cytron bombing," Olivia took a deep breath. "His name is Hollis Doyle."

Quinn had just arrived at the office, and was told by Abby that her boss was finally telling somebody what the hell the Cytron bombing was really about.

"Then maybe someone would be good enough to tell me?" Quinn asked.

Abby didn't answer. Instead, she looked at Quinn. "How did you get this job?" she finally asked. "How does a person who's only existed on paper for six months end up working for the best fixer in the country, if not the world?"

"She never told you." Quinn replied.

"I'm beginning to realize that there are lost of things Olivia never told us," Abby replied ."Up until now, I've always assumed they were for some kind of national security, but when you don't even tell the people you work with, your fellow gladiators, it really makes me wonder what kind of secrets she's been keeping."'

"She found me," It took Abby a few moments before she realized this was the answer she and Harrison had been asking themselves for months. "I was working for a temp agency- it's not easy to find a job when you can't use your own references- I was living out of a motel. She found me, said that she wanted me to come work for her. She put me up in her own apartment, and gave me some training, which gave me no real experience for what happened when she threw me in the deep end."

"And you never asked why," Abby said thoughtfully.

"Did you?" Quinn shook her head. "She has a way of making people believe they can do things. At the time, I was so grateful at being brought in off the streets, I didn't bother to ask any questions. Now I'm starting to wish I had."

Abby looked at Quinn. "You really didn't kill those people."

"You didn't believe me?" Quinn held up her hand. "Why should you be any different then the people dumb enough to get called in for jury duty?"

"It's not that," Abby told her. "David didn't believe you were a patsy until he started to closer into the bombing. He told me that in his experiences no one could have that much evidence against them, and not be guilty."

Quinn absorbed this. "I'm guessing David's going to testify against me."

"He's first on Hewes' witness list."

"Do you have any idea what he's going to say?"

"He thinks that there's something much bigger involved," she reluctantly told Abby. "Before we broke up, he told me that he thought it might be big enough to make eight deaths seem like child's play."

_4 Months Later_

_"I'm getting really goddamn tired of being given the runaround by you people," Hollis Doyle was shouting into his cell phone. "I know how goddamn busy he is; I just don't give a rat's ass!"_

_"Sir, Mr. Beene isn't taking any calls at the moment-" the secretary plowed ahead._

_"Oh, he'll goddamn take my call. You tell him, we've been doing things his way long enough, and that if he doesn't get back to me in three minutes, I'm going to start calling his bosses. I'm sure the Attorney General would love to hear from me about now. And if not him, maybe his candy-ass boyfriend at the Post would like the story of the century!"_

_"Sir, you can't expect me to-"_

_"Give him that message. Use the _exact _same words I did. Then you tell him I'm done waiting."_

_Doyle terminated the call At that exact moment, someone buzzed his apartment._

_BALTIMORE_

_Patty was trying not to show it, but she was clearly shaken by the news of Rosen's murder _

_"Why would they kill him now? His life was in danger the moment he started his investigation. If they considered him a loose end, they should have done it months ago before he could do anywhere near as much damage."_

_"You think they're going to come for us next?" Ellen asked._

_"We're too high-profile. No, they want to clean up their mess, I know who they're going to start with."_

_Charlie opened the case had carried with him ever since Afghanistan, and began to remove and put together an M-16 with a sniper scope._


	5. Try and Keep Your Hands Clean

Chapter 5

Try And Keep Your Hands Clean

_The White House_

_Roosevelt Room_

_Considering that India had detonated a nuclear bomb, the second major bombing in less than a week had just taken place on the Gaza Strip, and that one of the Kardashians- Cyrus didn't care which one- was about to wed a prominent Met second baseman, it was remarkable that all of the major media outlets in the country seemed focused on the murder of a relatively undistinguished Justice Department employee. But then again, maybe the media wasn't full of a bunch of elitist morons. They knew that figuring out who was responsible for David Rosen's murder would probably determine the fate of the Grant Administration, if not the future of the Presidency itself._

_Cyrus Beene also knew that there was a very good chance he was going to go to prison, and what happened in the next day or two might determine whether he went out as John Dean or Scooter Libby. That was assuming he was arrested. There was a very good chance he might not be alive much longer. He knew too much, and there were people who wanted to make sure he wouldn't talk, people who made Cosa Nostra look like the Keystone Kops._

_"There has to be some crisis that you could be dealing with."_

_Cyrus nearly jumped. He had gotten so accustomed to the First Lady's grand entrances that he had not expected that she could sneak up on him unawares._

_"There are many crises that I wish I was dealing with right now. But your husband has made it very clear that I'm not to so much as wipe my ass without the Secret Service telling him." Cyrus was only vulgar when he was under stress. Considering the level of the pressure on him, it was amazing he hadn't turned into George Carlin._

_"Why hasn't he asked for your resignation?" Mellie asked. "I know the vultures wouldn't completely go away, but we might get some movement-"_

_"Your husband has made it abundantly clear: the only reason he hasn't fired me yet is because he'd have to do the same to you. And believe me, THAT would be a much harder blow for his reputation to recover from."_

_"He's not going to have to worry about that much longer," Mellie seemed as distracted as he was. "The only reason he's kept me around as long as he has is because, believe it or not, my approval ratings are higher than his at the moment."_

_There had been a time- hell, it might have been true as recently as a month ago- that she would have gloated- fucking danced for joy- to see Cyrus brought as low as he was right now. But while Mellie was many things, stupid had never been one of them. She knew as well as he did that the grave she would be dancing on was her own, and that very soon, all the chickens they had been dealing would come home to roost._

_"Christ, Cyrus, how did we get here?" Mellie asked suddenly._

_"Please tell me that's a rhetorical question," he told her. "We know goddamn well what happened. We hung together, and that's exactly what's going to happen to us."_

_Just then, one of the aides walked up to him. "The President wants to see you right now." Then she looked at the First Lady. "Both of you, in fact."_

4 Months Earlier

Hewes & Associates

Patty hadn't gathered the troops like this for nearly a year. Everyone knew that the case against Lindsey Dwyer was a big one, but only a chosen few- like Ellen- knew just how big the stakes might be, and the scope of their operation.

"This case isn't like any of the ones we've dealt with before," she told them. "Our object is not to determine Lindsey Dwyer's culpability. What is far more important is established who are her accomplices. Who turned Lindsey Dwyer into Quinn Perkins? Why did they do it instead of leaving her to die or to rot the jail? The only way we can find that out is from Perkins herself. Harrison Wright is going to do everything in his considerable power to make that Perkins never opens her mouth. Our job is to leave with no choice but to do so. Only then will we be able to get justice for the eight victims of the Cytron bombing." She turned to her left. "Ellen?"

Ellen was about to second chair one of the biggest cases of her life, especially having supposedly blown it at her first opportunity. Everyone knew that Patty wasn't just trying a case, she was anointing a successor. If Ellen was good- and there had been no one since Tom that Patty had gotten this close to in years- they could end up working for her someday. And while part of her wanted to relish this, she was worried about the bodies that she'd had to climb over in order to get here.

"The first witness we will depose is the U.S. attorney who led the prosecution of Dwyer, David Rosen," Ellen told them. "Rosen will provide background on how he came to prosecute Quinn Perkins, and what he learned from his first case about her and her relationship to Olivia Pope. "

"Is there any possibility he's going to try and cease prosecution if we prove his case for him?" Janet, one of the higher associates spoke with an impudence she wouldn't have dared try with anyone else.

"Mr. Rosen has a done us a great service by bringing us this case," Ellen told them, her tone not changing. "He realizes that there are certain limitation on what his office can do. On what has to be done in order to bring about justice."

"But he's never been on this side of it," That same insolence. Patty had never tolerated it before. "Should we really be moving this fast?"

"Mr. Rosen _wants _accelerated discovery," Patty finally spoke up. "He thinks the longer that we fuck around and stall, it gives the people who are responsible more time to bury the bodies. And there's a very good that there will be additional ones if we don't hurry. As far as we're concerned, David Rosen is a friend.

Pope and Associates

"I realize that David Rosen has done many good things for this office," Olivia told them. "But the past, unfortunately, is behind us. From this moment on, David is our enemy, and we are going to have to do everything in our power to shred his credibility. Does anybody have a problem with that?"

She looked at what was left of her office, expecting some kind of objection from Abby or maybe even Quinn. No one did. Apparently, the stakes were now clear to everyone. "Good," she said.

"Don't think that'll be as easy as that," Harrison told them. "Patty is going to have her people vetting David as seriously as we will. She hates surprises more than we do, and her resources are at least as good as ours."

"Not to mention David has to know what's it like to go after somebody," Abby told them. "And he has a good idea how we work." She took a deep breath. "I'm betting the first words out of his mouth are going to be that he slept with me."

"It would be the easiest way to kick our legs out from under us," Harrison admitted. "Which is why I want to avoid mentioning it if at all possible. It may make him look bad, but it'll make us look worse. Hell, it'll give them ground to put all of us on her list, and give her a whole new bunch of questions to ask."

"Then how we do cut him down?" Quinn asked.

"Point out how he nearly lost his job following this case, any procedural missteps he may have made, the fact that he had a working relationship with us before this whole mess got started." Harrison could see the objections on Olivia's face. "It's not sexy, I know, but we have to undermine Patty's case more. That'll involve destroying almost any idea that this suit has merit."

Olivia clearly didn't want to hear this- she waned to kill the case fast- but at that moment, her cell rang. And the caller ID told her it was Cyrus. Not the last person she wanted to talk too, but definitely in the top three.

"You couldn't have picked a worse time to call," she started.

"Considering you've been dodging calls for the last three weeks, I don't think you have any right to get..." Cyrus' rage came into war with his moderation. Now was the time to do the same.

Unfortunately, she was not inclined to be reasonable. "Come on, Cyrus, say it. An uppity bitch. That's what you're thinking."

"It doesn't matter what I think right now. It matters what Hollis thinks. And from what I understand, you've been dodging his calls too."

"I could give a shit on a shingle as to what Hollis thinks now."

"He wants a meeting, and I'm running out of reasons why we can't."

Olivia was normally diplomatic with everybody who called her, especially the man who was practically her mentor. However, she felt like her head was being squeezed in a vise, and every ten minutes- or so seemed- they turned it another rotation. She didn't quite have to nerve to yell at Hollis, but Cyrus would take it. Up to a point.

"How about the fact that Patty Hewes' investigators are probably following me waiting to see who I talk to? How about the reason that I've got four people in my office who are no longer tolerating the vague reassurances I give them that this is being done for a higher purpose? How about because it's Hollis' meddling in these affairs that caused this problem in the first place!"

It took a lot to shut Cyrus up. "You're obviously under a lot of stress right now-" he started.

"You THINK?!" Olivia was starting to reach her limit. "Do me a favor. When Hollis calls you, tell him exactly what I said, _in exactly those words. _Then tell him that right now, I am taking the heat for all of us. I will fix this problem like everything else, and he won't have to get his little bitty hands any dirtier."

"Really? 'Cause from what I hear-"

"Right now, Patty Hewes' has her hooks into me, and me alone. I intend to make sure it stays that way. So tell Hollis and Mellie that the problem right now is still containable. If they get involved, it won't be. And I'm going to remember who went to all this trouble to screw me over." Olivia told him. "Now why don't you concentrate on more important things, like running the country? Try and keep your hands clean."

Then, before the color of her soul got any darker, she hung up.

HEWES AND ASSOCIATES

The preps for David's deposition went a lot smoother than everyone had expected, especially considering the initial contempt that David had held for Patty. Considering that she had made more progress in three weeks than he had in four months, he was inclined to give her some leeway.

The only questions he had asked prior to beginning was what the rules were for self-representation. He knew that he was entitled to an attorney, but he understood the need for as few witnesses to what they were going to discuss, at least at first

"Besides," he told them, "it's not as if I don't have a good idea as to what they're going to ask me."

Ellen would've quoted the hoary cliché about a lawyer who represents himself, but the fact was David might be able to pick up on some of the tricks that other deponents might miss. Also, he had a pretty good idea as to what they might ask. He also told them about one last piece of evidence he was pretty sure that Harrison knew nothing about, even though Olivia did.

He seemed far more relaxed than the average deponent did. "I'm actually looking forward to it," he said with a smile on his face. There was nothing good-humored about it, though. Ellen thought she could guess why.

She wasn't sure until it actually happened the next day.

"How did you first find out that Quinn Perkins was Lindsey Dwyer?" Ellen asked.

"My office found her at the home of a DC reporter that we believe was murdered," David told her.

"Believe?"

"The body was never found. The crime scene was cleansed."

Ellen raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea who did this?"

"The evidence would suggest that it was done by Olivia Pope and her people," David told them slowly.

"Objection. Irrelevant."

"I think that assumes a pattern, but if Mr. Wright finds it smells bad, I'll cheerfully withdraw," David told them. "In any case, I managed to obtain Miss Perkins fingerprints. The federal database identified her as Lindsey Dwyer."

"At the time, did you know anything about Miss Dwyer's case?"

"I knew only what I saw in the file."

"Why were you tasked in the prosecution of a bombing that took place on the other side of the country?" Ellen asked.

David actually had to think before he answered. "The case was considered an act of terror, and therefore prosecutorial discretion lay in the hands of the Justice Department."

"All right, skipping ahead to actual trial six months later, who was Miss Dwyer's council?"

"Samuel Barkley, one of the tougher criminal attorneys in the country."

"Sounds expensive. Olivia Pope must be really committed to her people." Ellen could see Harrison preparing to object, so she moved ahead. "During the course of the trial, did you have any idea how well your prosecution was going?"

This was a hard question to ask any lawyer had the case gone to jury. It's harder still to make that distinction when your case never gets there. The entire question was pure speculation, and any good lawyer would've raised it. For some reason, Harrison didn't.

"I believe the prosecution was solid. We had the blueprints to the bomb on Miss Dwyer's computer, she'd had arguments with her boyfriend several days before he was killed, there was the fact that she had changed her identity and fled the jurisdiction rather than stand trial in LA, where she might have met a more sympathetic base."

"I've seen the trial transcripts. You had neither witness nor a confession, and most of your evidence is circumstantial."

"There are very few cases that are tried with solid, concrete evidences. Most cases are built on circumstantial evidence. Perhaps the jury would've considered otherwise, had the defense mounted an argument."

"But they didn't."

"After I rested my case, Mr. Barkley moved that the prosecution had not met it's burden of proof, and moved for a dismissal of all charges."

"Is this typical?"

"He'd made a similar motion at the beginning of the trial, and it had been denied. I had no reason to expect otherwise. I was stunned when it was."

"And the judge's dismissal of the case made it impossible for Dwyer to be tried again in any court."

"Jeopardy was attached. Much as I believe in the law, I will not work around it." David looked right at Harrison when he made that statement.

"But you didn't let the case go, did you. Mr. Rosen?"

"The only reasonable conclusion that I could draw was that Lindsey Dwyer had used some of the connections she had made while working with Olivia Pope to get to Judge Locke. And I couldn't understand why anyone would help a murderer get away with her crime."

"That's a rather extreme conclusion to draw, Mr. Rosen. Did anyone in your office agree with your theory?"

"My superiors certainly didn't think that way. When I tried to get permission to carry on further investigations into the Cytron bombing, I was placed on administrative leave."

"Did you give up then?"

"It wasn't easy, but with some assistance, I was able to get information that leads me to believe that Miss Dwyer is not being honest about her role in the Cytron bombing, and that her associates have conspired to cover it up."

And at that moment Patty turned to the stenographer. "I think that's enough for today. We'll pick it up from that point tomorrow."

This finally got a reaction from Harrison. "Excuse me?"

"We still have a fair amount of ground to cover, and I'm sure that you'll need the time to get your own questions in order." Patty said with a smile on her face. "Besides, I'm sure the people you work for will be very interested in today's remarks."

Harrison looked at David, who seemed strangely relaxed at being interrupted mid soliloquy. _They know something we don't. Something that Olivia didn't bother to tell me about. _He needed to talk to his boss.

"He barely mentioned your name," he told Olivia ten minutes later. "Kept saying that Quinn somehow made enough connection to manipulate the judge."

"What about the bombing?" Olivia demanded

"He keeps talking about Quinn as if he thinks she were guilty. There was barely any mention about the conspiracy at all. "

"Hey, Harrison."

Harrison had momentarily lost focus. "David, I'm in the middle of a conversation-"

"You want to hear what I have to say." There was something about David's tone- a steel that had been absent almost throughout his entire deposition was now present. "And I'd be very careful about what I tell your boss."

Harrison very abruptly ended his call. "You shouldn't be talking to me."

"My lawyer says that it's okay." There was absolutely no humor in his tone. "Besides, it's really something that only you and I need to talk about."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"At first, I figured that Olivia had told Abby about the charges against me for assault and battery. It's after all, the kind of thing that she looks for when she starts looking for dirt. Then I realized that she'd have no idea where to look for them, and that she never gets her hands dirty with these kinds of things if she can help it." He looked at Harrison. "You're the one who gave her the information."

"I don't like what you're insinuating."

"I'm not. I'm accusing you outright. You broke me and Abby up. And my guess is you did it without even asking why." David looked at Harrison. "You're either the most loyal person in the world, or the most gullible. You're probably representing Quinn Perkins without asking why."

"Olivia told me everything I need to know."

"Did she? I sincerely doubt that. Doesn't matter really. Tomorrow, Abby's name gets dragged through the mud. And it's only a matter of time before what I say about her becomes public knowledge. What do you think it's going to do to Abby's reputation when she learns that her boss decided to whore her out?"

Suddenly, shredding David's credibility didn't seem to be ambiguous even more. Perhaps it was only being in the presence of Patty that had changed him, but suddenly he seemed to have the balls of a tiger. "You say anything that hurts Abby-"

"And you'll what? There is nothing that I can say that would do more damage to her than what you and your boss have already done. Your dirty laundry's about to get a very public airing, Harrison. So I'd make fucking sure I was wearing clean shorts."

The line seemed like it was out of a bad movie, but before he could come up with a response, David had left the room.

David waited until he was gone before he made his own call. "You found what I was talking about?"

"It was right where you said it was."

"I need it in my hands tomorrow morning."

"I'll be there," Wes told him.

Wes didn't know that he was being watched from across the way by Huck. As Wes moved down to the exit, he moved in.

HEWES & ASSOCIATES

"Now when we left off yesterday, you were about to tell us where you got your information on Cytron," Ellen began.

"At this point, I object to any testimony that Mr. Rosen is about to give," Harrison said slowly.

"On what grounds?" Patty asked lazily.

"Any people that Mr. Rosen is about to name are known employees of Olivia Pope. It has already been established that this suit is about Quinn Perkins and only Quinn Perkins."

"Any employees of Miss Pope are also associates of Miss Perkins. Are you trying to say that there is no connection between these two points?

"Your firm named Miss Perkins alone."

Ellen looked at Harrison. "Object all you want, but we're not in court, and Mr. Rosen is not your witness. Do I really need to remind you of the rules of discovery, Mr. Wright?"

Harrison didn't want to be lectured to by a girl at least a decade younger then him, but she was right. He knew it as well as she did. Besides, at this point, he was stalling the inevitable. "My objection is noted for the record."

"Of course," Ellen returned her attention to David. "Continue."

"Most of my information came from nearly six weeks of research. I turned over every rock I could find about Cytron that I could find connected with whatever credentials I could find."

"Did anybody assist you in your work?" _Here it comes._

"My assistant at first, and eventually a couple of other people, including a well-placed source at Miss Pope's office."

Harrison blinked. He had been waiting for the dynamite to go off, and his opponent hadn't pushed down the plunger. It was a good thing he wasn't questioning David, because right now he wasn't sure what to say.

"Turning your attention to the date of May 18, could you describe some of the events of that day?"

"Earlier that morning my office had offered me my old job back on the condition that I stop any further investigation into the Cytron bombing. It had been weeks until I got any concrete information, so I was considering letting it go. At that time, my source at Miss Pope's office came up with some information about the reasons as to why Cytron might have been bombed in the first place."

"What information was this?"

"I never got a clear answer. Not long thereafter, there was an incident at my apartment. And I found that my investigation had been interesting the wrong people."

Ellen reached into her pocket, and removed an object "At this time, we would like to introduce this as evidence." She handed a plastic bag to Harrison, who suddenly turned cold. He wasn't really much of a tech guy, but even could tell that this was some kind of recording device.

"Could you identify the device, Mr. Rosen?"

"It's a miniature bug that I found in my apartment. Based on where I'd found it, it could've been there for weeks, maybe months."

"Do you have any idea who it belongs too?" Ellen asked.

"These devices are designed so you have no idea who they belonged to. But there are any number of people or agencies who could placed that device. And Pope & Associates has countless links to the people who could do it, and keeps any number of them on retainer."

Harrison, the guy who never stopped talking, for once had nothing to say.

"One last question. Is it possible that this source of yours at Pope & Associates could've placed the bug?"

"It's possible, but I find it unlikely. The last action she took upon seeing me was to accidentally reveal where the bugs had been placed."

"I believe you've answered all the questions I have," Ellen turned to Harrison, who couldn't seem to get his mouth to open. "I think that a brief recess would be in order, before we allow Mr. Wright to begin his questioning."

Harrison finally managed to recover when he got outside. He knew he had to be preparing a vicious, slash-and-burn interrogation of David, but that was currently the last thing on his mind. Somehow he managed to find his way out of Hewes & Associates before he managed to dial Olivia's number.

"You wired his place," he said before Olivia could greet him.

"Yes," Olivia didn't bother to deny it.

"Did you tell Abby to sleep with him?" Somehow, this seemed more of a violation than the obvious one.

"I told her that she had to get David into her confidence. I told her that it was important that she-"

"So you knew what was going to happen, and that's why you had me break them up," Harrison felt like he was going to puke. "Jesus Fucking Christ, Liv! We're supposed to be the good guys!"

"There is no precedent for a situation like this," Olivia's calmness was somehow more unsettling than what she was doing. "You know how important it was that Hollis Doyle not find out about David's investigation."

"Little question. Did you have Huck plant the device that Rosen found?"

"I used an outside contractor. I couldn't risk David making a connection back to me."

"So why not get some other outside contractor to fuck David? Christ, she's in this as deep as he is right now!"

There was a long silence. "I take it that David named Abby in his deposition."

"No, but he sure as shit told Patty Hewes about it! And if she can put the pieces together, it's only a matter of time before we're all getting subpoenaed again," Harrison got a hold of himself. "This is bad, Liv. I'll do everything I can to muddy the waters on cross, but this case is not going to be thrown out, whatever judge you manage to get in your pocket."

There was an even longer pause. "There are other ways to handle this, Harrison," she finally told him.

"Please tell me you're not thinking what you're implying," Harrison was suddenly very worried about the other options Olivia had in her pocket.

"Just go back in there, and finish your deposition," Then she hung up.

_The President of the United States could be prickly under the best circumstances. As anyone can tell, holding that position means you are never dealing with the best circumstances. His administration had already survived the release of a sex tape, the Vice President's chief of staff disappearing after being accused of murder, and more foreign relation problems in Africa and the Middle East. All of those had been child's play compared to what was facing his administration now._

_The big difference was, he'd had Olivia Pope in his corner for all of the previous problems. He didn't now. And though things were still very hazy as to the whys, it was now very clear that she was a big part of the problem. Congress, it seemed, was doing a much better job figuring out than his own people- the ones who were left anyway._

_And now, a man in Justice who might have had the answers he'd been looking for was dead, and it was beginning to look like he was going to have to accept the inevitable. People that he'd considered his nearest and dearest had now revealed themselves to be anything but. He didn't have many options._

_So he made a phone call he shouldn't have made. His Chief of Staff would've thrown a conniption fit. His wife would've threatened to divorce him. But he had a feeling that they were worried about far more important things than this. And if they didn't, he was about to give them a couple._

_"I think we made it clear that it's not a good idea for you to call me now, Mr. President" Olivia said._

_"The noose is tightening around all of our necks," the President told them. ."I know you never call in favors. You're not that kind of person. But all of us are running out of time. So please, let me help you."_

_He heard a stirring behind him. Cyrus and Mellie had walked into the room, and weren't snapping at each other. If this didn't say their situation was at Threat Level Orange, he didn't know what else would_

_"So, now we're all here," The President tried to sound jocular, but all he could manage was slight sarcasm. "It's time that we discussed cleaning up the mess you made."_

"Well, you definitely earned your money this week," Patty told Wes.

Wes had always prided himself at being efficient at being good at his job, but he was nowhere near the level of ex-Company, which was whatever her people had to be. He had known that if he tried to remove the bug from David Rosen's apartment, he would get pulped, and the bug would get trashed.

So when he had gone into Rosen's apartment, he had been everything he wasn't- amateurish and slip-shod. He had made a big deal of being seen going into Rosen's building. He had gone directly to his apartment, and removed the bobblehead. He then unscrewed it, removed the bug, and put in a dummy tracker that he had borrowed from one of his friends at the NYPD. He then dropped the bug in the mail slot, and had left the apartment, being sure to be seen taking David's call.

None of that prepared for taking what was a more than competent ass-whupping that had happened a couple of minutes later. The assailant was wearing a hoodie and gloves even though it was in the seventies. But he had learned two things as a cop: how to take a beating and how to give one back. He managed a hit with the hand that was carrying a wedding ring he never wore anymore. He had gotten a single drop of blood on it, which he had guarded nearly as much as he had the bug that had brought him there.

After he was finished, he paid a child playing outside twenty dollars to go to the hall, and pick up the mail. The bug then arrived in his hands, hardly worse for wear. It had been a gamble, but it had paid off.

"How long will it be until we get DNA results?" Patty asked.

"I told my boys at NYPD to put a rush on it, but even the most accelerated move will take at least a couple of weeks, Of course, we're basing all this on the assumption that this is the game guy working surveillance of Perkins' apartment." Wes pointed out. "For all we know, she's got half the Agency on her payroll."

"Do you really think that?" Ellen queried.

"My gut tells me if her inner circle is as small as Mr. Rosen claims it is, she's not going to go outside for anything she doesn't have to." Wes told them. "But then, I don't want to risk the case on my gut alone."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Patty waved this off. "Now about the other thing."

Wes knew he shouldn't be talking about moral quandaries, considering who his past employers had been, but he considered what Patty was having him do with Quinn Perkins to be borderline illegal _for him. _

"I've talked with her half a dozen times, but she's given me nearly nothing on what her involvement in Cytron is or whatever this might be about," Wes told them slowly. "Frankly, I don't think she's going to give us any information that we can use. She's been through the circus too much to trust anyone now."

"I wouldn't expect her to," Patty said, almost casually.

Wes seemed a little put off by this. "Then why the fuck did you have me talk with her for?"

'Because you were a cop. And cops are supposed to be able to spot a murderer when they see one." Patty told them. "You said something about risking this case on your gut. What does your gut tell you about Lindsey Dwyer?"

Wes liked this even less than he had the idea of talking with Quinn in the first place. "Cops are as fallible as lawyers," he reminded her. "That said, I don't think she did it."

"Care to be a little more specific?" Ellen asked.

"I've been talking to her for a month, and the one thing she's angriest about is that she never got to tell her side of the story," Wes began slowly. "She thinks people care more about her paying for her crimes than what actually happened. She's also thinks that the people at Pope & Associates convicted her without their being a trial. If she were really guilty of this, she would've been saying something about it. Hell, she might even being bragging about it."

"She could be a psychopath," Ellen argued.

"Psychopaths and mentally deficient criminals uses knives or their bare. On rare occasions, they'll shoot somebody. They don't plant bombs, and if they do, they stick around to take credit for it."

"She ran," Ellen reminded her. "She changed her name and her whole identity,"

"Which is harder to do then it sounds," Wes told them. "She didn't just get a new. It's not as simple a matter as making a trip to your local DMV. It can take a lot of money and time to do all that, things which, according to my little background check, Lindsey Dwyer did not have."

"But Olivia Pope did," Patty said. "Once again, all roads seems to lead to her."

"We are saying the same thing, aren't we?" Wes asked. "Olivia Pope knows who really bombed Cytron and killed those eight people. And if she was working at the White House when it happened-"

"One step at a time." Patty replied. "All we have to do is find the connection between Lindsey Dwyer and Olivia Pope. We'll worry about the rest when we've got room to maneuver."

"We're officially fucked," Harrison told Olivia that night. "I did what I could to contain them, but all Hewes had to do bring the case back to you is show the transcript to any judge in the country. Unless there's some rabbit you can pull out of your hat."

Olivia shook her head. "Not in Maryland," she replied. "Stanton has made it very clear that any judge who can't be impartial in this case should recuse themselves right now. Unofficially, he intends to make it crystal clear that the most rapid, anti-Washington judges are the only ones who hear this case. "

"Your guardian angel isn't going to help us this time." It wasn't a question.

Olivia wanted to protect Verna for as long as she could, but the truth was that any Supreme Court Justice's pull was limited beyond the scope of D.C. Technically speaking, she had overreached herself getting the first suit against Olivia dismissed. Outside of the beltway- which Baltimore was, unfortunately- Justice Thornton's pull was decidedly limited. And no matter how subtle she tried to be, someone was going to raise the question.

"Patty Hewes made a smart play when she chose jurisdiction," she told Harrison reluctantly. "No court's going to kick this. Our best bet is still trying to settle this before this gets to trial."

"This isn't about money any more then it's about Quinn," Harrison said, just as unenthusiastically. "Hewes may not know what this case is about... yet, but she knows enough to be sure that's it's bigger than the eight people who got killed."

Olivia had only told Harrison so much about what this case was really about. She had watched her phrasing as much as she could for the simple fact that she was pretty sure she wasn't the only one who was listening in on their private meetings. For all she knew, Hollis might choose to settle the entire matter by waiting until Quinn was being deposed, and then...

No. She was going to do everything in her power so that no more innocent people died. Even if that meant the President had to find out the full nature of what had been going on under his nose.

"What's the rest of her witness list look like?" she asked, trying to distract herself with minutiae

"All the cops connected with the original investigation in LA. Who I assume are going to say exactly what you told me," Harrison took a deep breath. "I'll drag it out as long as I can, but my best guess is we've got maybe two weeks before she deposes Quinn. And once she tells her story, you're not going to be able to keep your little secrets any longer."

With all the work Olivia had done and was doing to try and keep Quinn safe, she wasn't giving much thought as to what Quinn was doing in the present.

There would be a large number of mistakes made in the next few months, but perhaps the most significant was the fact that Olivia had not kept her so-called protégé in the loop as to what had actually happened. Because of this, Quinn was finally starting to ask the questions that should've been at the center of her world for the last year.

Someone had done something unthinkable to her life. A horrible and inexcusable violation of everything that Lindsey Dwyer had held dear had happened more than a year. Then, somehow she had been rescued from her trap and given a new life and purpose. It was only now, when it was all but too late to do anything about it, that Quinn realized that she had been the victim of a second, equally horrendous intrusion into her life, and that instead of trying to figure out why it had happened, she had embraced the new one like she was clinging to a life preserver as the ship went down.

And the fact was, she'd been so busy clinging to her new life that she had never given thought that she might be able to use those same connections to find out what had happened to her old.

She had been about to be indicted and sent on her way to a lethal injection, when someone had taken her from her old life, and left her in a new one. There weren't a lot of people who could pull off a trick like that. She now knew that she was working for one of the people who could.

More to the point, someone had arranged to drug her, fly her across the country, and deposit her in a motel leaving those identities behind. There weren't a lot of people capable of doing that either, and again, she was working with one of the people who could.

She began by doing a search in private airports in D.C, looking to see if anyone on that date had done what she was looking for. Maybe she'd been working with Huck for too long, or maybe she'd managed by osmosis to become competent at this search. Whatever the reason, it took her less than an hour to come up with a place, a time... and a name. And it wasn't the name that she had expected to find.

Whatever his motivations, she thought that she now knew why Stephen had so willingly excised himself from Olivia's life.

"I've done everything that I can, but I believe that I've reached the limits of my powers, "Olivia said less than three hours later.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Cyrus replied, with what was as close to genuine sympathy as he could manage. "You know what has to be done."

"No, I don't. Which is why when you call our little circle of friends together, you're going to remind Hollis of what I told him. Then you're going to tell him that when we meet we are going to discuss containment. And that is not a euphemism. This problem can't just be solved using his methods. He does not do one thing, until we talk and vote."

"He's not going to like that, especially considering how you tried to take him to the woodshed earlier," Cyrus reminded her.

"Remind him of the names Arthur Frobisher and URA. Remind him that anything I can do, Patty can make a thousand times worse. And that unilateral action in these situations always leads to horrific consequences."

_4 Months Later_

_The Oval Office_

_President Grant looked at the three people he was talking to, two live, one on Skye. At one point he had considered these three people his world (even though he had never really felt much for Mellie, the fact was she was still the mother of his children). Now he realized that they had never had any respect for him or for the office that he held. That he was holding court with three of the greatest traitors in the history of this country, people who made Nixon's inner circle look like children playing with marbles. _

_What did it say about him that he had been so close to them and had never suspected them of their crimes? What did it say about his Presidency?_

_"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that another man turned up dead this morning. How many corpses are now tied to your little venture?" He could barely manage the tone of fake bonhomie necessary to remain calm._

_"Mr. President, I know you think the worst of us, but you have to-"_

_"Shut up, Cyrus. Need I remind you of protocol, especially considering how many laws you had to violate in order to make sure could follow it?" Now he was all but shouting._

_"None of us had anything to do with David Rosen's murder," Olivia told them._

_"Now why am I having so much trouble believing that?" He held up his hand. "It's irrelevant really. I've already heard from the DC police, the FBI, the Attorney General's office, and for some reason, the Speaker of the House. I think that's really being presumptuous, considering he can't both take my job and try me before Congress simultaneously, can he?"_

_"Fitz, why did you call us here? What do you want us to do?" Mellie sounded more desperate than she had in years, and that was saying something._

_"'Us?' There is no us, Mellie. The buck stops here for a reason." Fitz had nothing but disdain. "I'm the only vote that matters. And I'll handle it."_

_"How?"_

_"It really doesn't concern you, any more." The President reached into the Wilson desk. "Are we clear?_


	6. You Still Won't Call Me Your Friend

Chapter 6

You Still Won't Call Me Your Friend

_BALTIMORE_

_Olivia Pope never showed fear. Not even to herself. If she had, she would never have been able to be a player in DC for as long as she had. And even as events surrounding her and her people had begun to spiral out of control, she managed to maintain her mask to the world. It had been the only thing that had kept her going for much of the past few months._

_Now, looking into the face of the man she had once loved, even staring through a computer screen a hundred miles away, she could feel the mask that she had worn so long finally start to fall away. Her career was finished. Her relationship with Washington. Finished. And now she was going to have to start really considering the possibility that she would be going to prison, perhaps as soon as a matter of days._

_"None of us had anything to do with David Rosen being killed," she told the President._

_Even as she said, she knew this was a lie. And even if they were not criminally responsible for his death, they were all morally responsible. Her most of all. Because she was supposed to know better._

3 Months Earlier

Nathan Hale Motor Lodge

Trying to assemble the five of the most important people in D.C. was a difficult job to accomplish, even considering the urgency of the matter and the rapidly failing health of one of the key players. The problem was even more difficult considering that Olivia had been certain that she was being tailed at least four times during the past three weeks. Under normal circumstances, she would've gone to Huck about this. No one had to remind her that these were not normal circumstances

Considering that Justice Thornton was trying to keep the press away from the fact that she was in her second cycle of chemo, that the First Lady was supposed at Camp David on maternity leave (which was a joke; Mellie Grant would never take time away from being First Lady if she needed open heart surgery) and that Cyrus and Mellie could never be seen within a hundred yards of each other when they were outside the White House grounds, (managing to shake their Secret Service details simultaneously without rousing any suspicion) it had taken nearly three weeks from the time that Olivia had agreed for a meeting of the cabal for them actually find a time and place that they were going to be invisible. The fact that this meeting was taking place in a section of D.C. prominently known for having the highest level of drug-related homicides didn't make things any easier for four of the five members of the cabal. There was a certain irony that no one would look twice at Olivia here, but she knew this was not the time to be discussing the drug war.

Under other circumstances, she might take a cruel poke at her other members of this 'club', by saying that this only proved that the four of them were the whitest people in America. After all, as Verna had pointed out accidentally a few months earlier, Olivia had been the only one who hadn't gotten anything about the events they were going to discuss. But there was no time for jokes. The matters that they had discussed nearly two years earlier were exploding, and they had to find a way to contain the fire.

"You couldn't have agreed on a place with a little more security?" Cyrus had told her as he arrived. "I saw at least three armed guys in the last block, and these walls don't look like they could stand an assault by a swarm of flies."

"Security was less important to me than getting us here," Olivia told one of her oldest friends in a very harsh tone. "No one's going to look for the White House Chief of Staff next door to a crackhouse."

"Olivia, if something were to befall any of us here, it could be weeks before they find the bodies," Cyrus replied. "Still, I suppose I shouldn't complain. It's still safer than Jessup."

"I don't know why you're so worried about prison," Mellie replied. "It's not like you have to practice whether you're going to pitch or catch."

"Always good to see you, Mellie," Cyrus spoke as if he'd just swallowed a lemon. "Thank you for elevating the level of discussion."

"Hey, you're not the one whose nipples could start lactating at any moment," the First Lady broke off. "Not to mention the Secret Service are going to be chasing me down with a breast pump."

"Ah, the joys of childbirth," Cyrus countered. "Did I mention that James has been pressing me to adopt a child?"

"Don't do that," Mellie told him. "Don't pretend that this is just some awkward family ritual. The last thing I want is to pretend that I'm just in front of the Rose Garden."

Once again, the First Lady and Cyrus were demonstrating that they shouldn't be in an enclosed space. It would be funny if it weren't deathly serious, and Olivia was in no mood to referee in place of everything else.

"Always wonderful being in the same room with you two," Justice Thornton had announced her arrival by mercifully interjecting herself into the conversation. "It's enough to remind me what it's like when Tony and Elena get into when we're discussing the Fourth Amendment. I thought discourse couldn't get any more childish. Then I remember how I got there."

Olivia might have been able to manage a ghost of a smile at this if she hadn't also noticed how pale her old friend was. "How are you doing, Verna?"

"Fine, be running the marathon-"

"Justice Thornton,"

The honorific from a friend made her realize the seriousness of her mortality. "The latest round of chemo isn't going very well," Verna admitted. "They're going to try another model, but the people at GW pretty much say they're down to experimental protocols." She tried to smile, but it looked ghastly. "This may be the last time the band gets back together."

There was a moment of solemn mortality. In Washington, those never lasted long. "Well, at least you won't have to worry about trials."

"Jesus Christ, Mellie!" Apparently even Cyrus' skin wasn't thick enough to let that zinger go.

"What? I'm just being practical. We're going to have to do that, now that our collective asses are being held to the fire," Mellie continued to demonstrate that she had no soul. "Where the hell is Hollis?"

"I don't know, but before he gets here, we might want to consider our options before he gets his Agent Orange out," Olivia began.

"Why? Do you have a way to get us down from Shit Creek?" Verna asked.

"I'm not saying the situation isn't bad, but Hollis has the unpleasant habit of pouring gasoline on forest fires," Olivia reminded them "There are ways to contain this situation. He's not going to be interested in hearing them."

"People are handing you subpoenas, Liv; I think we're a little past containment," Cyrus argued.

"They haven't subpoenaed me," Olivia countered.

"Yet, Liv. It's a matter of time, or am I getting my information wrong?"

Olivia was more concerned about how the Chief of Staff was getting his information at all. Anybody else, the possibility was that he got it from MSNBC who had been raking her over the coals for the last week. But she knew that he wasn't going to let it go at that. This could produce even more issues that he couldn't deal with.

"The problem right now is me getting served. Right now, I'm the only person whose being held accountable. It doesn't have to go any further than that," Olivia told them reluctantly. "We need to fix things so that they stay where they are."

"This is Patricia Hewes. She doesn't let things go. Arthur Frobisher and Walter Kendrick are in prison because of her persistence."

_And both of whom were two of this biggest donators to Republican causes, _Olivia thought but didn't say. "They're in prison because they were breaking the law and got caught," she tried. "Civil litigations don't end with people going to prison, even if they're guilty. Need I mention O.J. Simpson?"

"They eventually nailed him, remember? Even though the gloves didn't fit."

Olivia tried to contain her gorge. "Hello, Hollis. I was just trying-"

"-to leave me out of the meeting, right? To try and allay support, as if we really cared about what your opinion was."

Hollis Doyle had the infinite capacity of believing he was always in the right, and enough money to buy out the people who thought that he was wrong. In essence, they were on the verge of disaster because no one had the balls to stand up to him. She had been trying to placate people like him for her entire career, but there were some people you could only buy off for so long.

"All right, I guess we can get this started," Cyrus told them. "There's no way around this, we have a huge problem."

"Actually, to be honest, _Olivia_ has a huge problem," Hollis told them. "They're all lining up the damn firing squad for her. And now, we're all concerned because we want to know how loud she'll sing and who she'll name."

"I haven't told anybody what happened yet, and I'm not going to. " This was, of course, a lie. Olivia had revealed some- but not the entire- truth to Harrison. Cyrus and Verna probably suspected as much. But if he told them, there was a very good chance that Harrison would be on their radar, and possibly be lined up with a bullet..

"Well, that's comforting, but right now, it's just one attorney coming after you. What's going to happen when the press suddenly decides to do it's little old' feeding frenzy, and they start looking for more chum?"

Hollis just knew how to warm a person's heart.

"So it's decided. I'm to be the sacrificial lamb," Olivia said slowly.

"We're not going to leave you to rot, Liv," Cyrus told her.

"Speak for yourself," Mellie told them. "If there's a way to stop the bleeding with Olivia, I say we throw her to the wolves and be done with it."

"Your compassion is overwhelming," Verna said slowly. "Unfortunately, I'm very familiar with the attorney arguing the case. This isn't about bringing down Olivia; if it was, she would've called a press conference. She can tell that there's a trail, and that it leads back to people like us."

"And giving Olivia up won't end the process," Cyrus reminded them. "The government has tried to bring down Patty Hewes before, and the only people who went to prison were more people in power."

"Then why are we even having this discussion," Hollis told them. "God, grow a pair and shut the bitch up."

Maybe it was the fact that she might soon be facing criminal prosecution, but somehow Hollis Doyle's wrath no longer seemed like the worst thing that could happen to her. For once, Olivia's diplomacy melted away.

"And how exactly would you shut her up? Splatter her brains? Put polonium in her drinking water? Or maybe you'd just blow up her office, cause you know that worked so well the first time!"

Everybody looked at Olivia as if she was a little crazy. Olivia, however, was not too far gone to realize that Hollis looked like he'd been taken aback for the first time since she'd met him.

"I think what Olivia was trying to say was-" Cyrus started.

"I can speak for myself. This is your mess, Hollis. You made it. Then you made it worse. And now, because of your meddling, people have died, and the exact wrong person is looking into what's happening."

"You don't have the right to act all..." Hollis trailed off.

"Come on, Hollis. Say 'uppity'. I dare you." Olivia was even colder. "This is Time Magazine's Woman of The Year. She's not a problem that is solved with enough bullets!"

Hollis just looked a little amused now, which, if anything, infuriated Olivia even more. Fortunately, Verna managed to run defense.

"Killing Patty Hewes wouldn't solve our problems. If anything, it guarantees that the wrong sort of people are looking into our business. We have to find a way to limit to bleeding as much as possible. Give Patty someone to target that's big enough to make her think she caught the rabbit she's chasing."

"And I suppose you've got just the person in mind," Hollis was starting to seethe.

"I do, Hollis," Verna paused. "Me."

Even among people whose responded far more quickly, it still took a moment for the magnitude of this to sink in. "How... exactly would you do that?" Cyrus asked.

Justice Thornton explained. It didn't take long.

"You do realize the only way they're going to find out about this is if one of my people makes a catastrophic mistake." Olivia told them.

"You're still in discovery. Make sure the evidence she'll need accidentally turns up in a loose bunch of documents."

"When would you do it?" Mellie asked.

"The doctor's say it's not that long anyway. It'll have to be in the next three or four days."

Again there was silence. "Verna, I don't know what to say," Cyrus told them.

"Sure as shit looks like you're taking the easy way out."

Hollis was known in this circle as being extremely undiplomatic, but hearing this made even Mellie blanche. "It would solve our problems, Hollis," she remarked.

"Correction, it would solve _her _problems. I mean, regardless how this investigation turns out, life in prison don't exactly mean much to you. And if something were to go wrong, well shit, it's not like you'd have to worry about the fallout."

"You're less human then I ever gave you credit for being," Verna told him.

"And none of you have the teeth for solving problems," Hollis told them. "Last time, we got together, I think I made it very clear what was going to happen if David Rosen became more of one. You didn't bother to listen, and now the mess is so much bigger. "

"So that's what you're going to do? More murders?"

"What I know is that, one way or another, this is the last time we're ever going to be voting on this. I'm assuming that the four of you are in favor of Verna's lamb to the slaughter defense?"

In point of fact, Olivia had doubts about her friend's sacrifice as well. This might stop Patty Hewes from chasing them; it might make her more determined. Either way, she was losing her closest ally in this little group. And she knew just how bloodless the other people were when it came to final solutions- without Verna, they might simply vote Hollis' way if things got worse. But the fact was, she'd just about run out of options when it came to dealing with this case, and as much as she hated to say it, if this worked, her problems were solved. So she simply nodded along with the others.

"All right, but make no mistake. This had goddamn well better work. Because trust me, I'm going to take measures to make sure this is handled, and if that requires the real work to be done, I'm going to make it happen. 'Cause let's be absolutely clear, this is not something that you ever had a say in. And once you're gone, Verna dear, we can dispense with the idea that this was something where your agreement mattered."

Hollis got up. "Now, if you'll excuse, I'm gonna be damn sure my car is still here."

Olivia finally reacted. "This is a shitty neighborhood, Hollis. Be careful someone doesn't shoot you."

Hollis didn't even look bothered by this insult. "Don't worry, Olivia," He opened his coat to reveal a holster. "Never leave home without being able to protect myself. You'd do well to take the same lesson."

Hollis was a grade-A prick, but he was right about one thing: this was the last time the group met.

HEWES & ASSOCIATES

Discovery had yielded enough evidence to prove that Lindsey Dwyer was responsible for the Cytron bombing, which was rather ironic considering that Ellen was no longer convinced that she was guilty of it.

The LAPD had been more then willing to testify about what and how had led to the explosion, but Ellen had avoided Wes's questioning that led to gaps in the case, or the information about the Feds involvement in the investigation. If anything, this was evidence that Patty's touch had rubbed off on her, because this went against everything else she had learned in law school.

Harrison Wright had been handed a gift-wrapped chance to get his client out from under this. But offered every opportunity to prove that Quinn was not the killer, he seemed to be dodging it as effortlessly as a soccer player. In Ellen's head, this could only mean one of three things:

1. Harrison Wright was a terrible attorney.

2. He had so little practice as a criminal attorney, he was asking the wrong questions.

3. He didn't want the wrong kind of answers blowing back on his boss.

Ellen was inclined to believe that it was door number three, but she couldn't show her hand any more than Harrison could. Yet.

In any case, they were about to see how deep the water truly was. Quinn Perkins was finally due to be deposed this afternoon. Harrison had kept the questions up as long as he could, but he knew that it was now or never.

Up until this point, Ellen and Patty had split the deposition pretty much 50/50. Patty had been almost... soft in her discovery, rarely raising her voice, and rarely asking the tough questions. By now, Wright had to be wondering who this woman was and what she had done with Patty Hewes. He was going to find out very soon- Patty told Ellen she wanted to depose Quinn Perkins herself.

Ellen wasn't really that surprised- considering that the case might come down to whatever came out of Perkins mouth, she'd want to make sure she was in the driver's seat. It probably wasn't going to come as a huge shock to anyone who was on the other end of the table, either. Wright had managed an important chip, though- he had convinced them not to videotape the deposition. Apparently, he didn't want anybody to see how his client responded to stressful questions.

When Perkins entered the room, she seemed almost amazingly relaxed, considering that she was a named defendant, and had basically had her life destroyed by the people in this room. At the time, Ellen thought that Harrison had to have been prepping her for months rather than the two weeks he had.

It would become very clear there were other reasons

"State your name for the record," Patty asked.

"Quinn Perkins."

"That's a pseudonym, isn't it?"

"There was a time when I was known as Lindsey Dwyer," Quinn seemed very detached from what she was saying. "But that woman has been dead for nearly two years."

Patty considered this. "When you were Lindsey Dwyer, you worked at Cytron, correct?"

"I did. I often wonder how I ended up at a place like that, considering that I had always wanted to be a scientist when I grew up. But we rarely get what we want out of life."

Harrison was looking a little concerned. "Can I have a moment to confer with my client?"

"I'm sorry, Harrison," Quinn shook her head. "The last few months have been very stressful for me. Guess I am rambling a bit. I'll answer your questions."

Patty didn't seem disturbed at all. If anything, her grin grew a little more predatory. "At the time of the Cytron bombing, you were involved with a man named Alexander Hutton?"

"I was."

"How would you describe your relationship with him?"

Quinn didn't answer for a few moments. "We were happy. I mean, occasionally we would have a fight, but all couples argue a little. As far as I know, Alex and I were doing all right."

"You didn't have an argument with him a few days before the bombing?"

"He had done something to my laptop. That's about the only argument I recall having with him. Certainly, it wasn't enough for me to kill him."

"So you really didn't have any problems with your boyfriend?"

Quinn looked straight ahead, not at Patty or her attorney, more like she was staring at some kind of marking on the wall. "No."

Patty could've jumped all over this- there were police reports saying otherwise- but she could sense something about Quinn Perkins. It seemed like she had reached some kind of inner peace- something that would've been impossible for her to attain, given the amount of pressure she was under. For the first time in a long time , Patty wasn't sure what a deponent was going to do So she decided to go softer, not harder.

"Drawing your attention to the day of June 12. 2011, did you speak to Alex that day?"

"No," Quinn replied. "He said that there was some major discrepancy in something he'd been researching for the past couple of weeks. He told me that he was going into the office early and try and to some more work."

"Did he tell you what this was about?"

"No," Quinn repeated. "Only that he was planning to talk to someone higher-up the food chain the next day. I'm guessing that's what he was looking into when the-" For the first time, she hesitated a little as she swallowed. "When the building was bombed."

"When did you find out what had happened at your job?"

"When I was getting up that morning, and saw it on the local news. They were telling everybody that a building downtown had been bombed, and that given the location, they thought that it might be some kind of terrorist action." Quinn shook her head. "They were still pulling bodies out of the rubble. I tried to call Alex, but he didn't.. he didn't pick up the phone."

The questioning continued for a few more minutes, as she gathered more details about what was in the police report. There wasn't anything that diverged radically from the earlier testimony, until she got back from her initial interrogation by the police.

"When I came to my apartment, the door was bolted and locked."

"How is this relevant?"

"I had been so distracted from everything that had happened in the last few hours that I left without completely locking up. At the time, I didn't think it was particularly unusual, but when I checked my apartment, it felt..."

She trailed off again. Patty was about to prod her when she finally spoke up. "It felt like someone had moved around the furniture and then moved it back. I just figured it was me being out of sorts from everything that had happened. Now I wish I'd looked at things a little more clearly. But the next day, the feds were searching my apartment, and they didn't want to hear anything I had to say."

"Which was the day the feds found the blueprints for the bomb on your computer." Patty considered this for a few moments. "Miss Perkins, did you use the blueprints to construct the bomb?"

The detachment was replaced with an abrupt firmness. "I did not."

"How do you explain the blueprints being found on your computer?"

"It was my private laptop. I didn't have the greatest security on it. Anyone with an outside line could have hacked into my software and placed the model there. I certainly had no idea how to design a bomb, nor how to get the materials to build one." Quinn looked at Patty. "This isn't the kind of thing you can just get on Ebay."

"It is your statement that you neither made nor planted the bomb," Patty's tone remained completely neutral. Harrison, however, was starting to look a bit nervous. "Do you have any idea who did?"

"You don't think I haven't wondered who turned my life to shit that day?" Quinn told them "I've been agonizing over that for years, and I'm no closer to an answer than the authorities are. I shouted my innocence to every federal agent I saw for three days. They had already tried, convicted, and sentenced me."

"Is that why you ran?"

It was here that Quinn took the longest hesitation before resuming her testimony. Whatever she was about to say, she was clearly convinced that it would convict her. "I did not run, Miss Hewes."

"Then how did you become Quinn Perkins?"

Another long pause. "I was still staying at my apartment- the feds still hadn't brought me into custody. I went and got myself a glass of Scotch. After I drank it, I became very light-headed, which was surprising because I had a better tolerance for alcohol than that. I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in a motel, and according to the clock, I'd been unconscious for more than two days. "

"You'd blacked out for two days," If it had been Ellen, there would've been a lot more disbelief in her tone. Patty managed to maintain complete neutrality.

"It was far more complicated than that," Quinn replied. "The motel was in the poorer section of Georgetown. And when I examined the room, I found that there was a completely new identity that had been left for me. Driver's license, birth certificate, social security card- Quinn Perkins life was there for the taking."

"So you gave up being Lindsey Dwyer and became Quinn Perkins?"

"Given my situation on the other end of the coast, I didn't think it made much sense to remain who I was."

"And you have no idea who did all this- drugged you, flew you cross-country, gave you a whole new identity?

"At the time, I didn't ask any questions." Quinn looked at Patty. "I've learned some of the answers, if you're interested in hearing them."

Now Harrison all but jumped to his feet. "At this time, I'd like a brief recess to confer with my client."

For the first time, Quinn turned to her attorney. "What's wrong, Harrison? You've had these questions for over a year. Now you can finally get the answers you've been waiting for, and you want to shut me up?"

"My client and I..."

"My client', 'my colleague, my co-defendant. I've known you for over a year, and you still won't call me your friend. " Now Quinn was starting to sound angry. "That says quite a lot about our relationship, doesn't it?"

"Mr. Wright, do you really intend to tell me you don't know what your client is going to say?" Patty asked.

Harrison launched into a spiel of legal lingo, but it was clear to everybody in this room that Quinn had caught him completely flatfooted, and he was scrambling.

"If you really want to stop now, you can do so," Patty assured him. "Of course, then I will have to bring this before the judge, and he's going to want to hear Miss Perkins remarks in camera. Do you really think that's in your client's best interest?"

If anything, Harrison looked even more torn then before. He might not know what Quinn was about to say, but he knew enough to know that he was probably going to have to put on a second hat very soon, and that hat was going to need to make sure that this testimony never saw the light of day. "I'll ask that this be treated as normal discovery," he finally said.

"Of course, Mr. Wright." Butter wouldn't have melted in Patty's mouth. Simultaneously, Ellen knew that she was about to swoop in, not only on Harrison, but on Olivia Pope, and whoever's ass she was really attempting to cover.

"Who do you believe is responsible for what happened to you?"

"I don't know who was responsible for murdering my boyfriend and those other seven people," Quinn told her, "but I have done some research as to the rest. The kind of drug that would be necessary to basically knock me unconscious are more commonly used in back door Agency antics-"

"Objection to this. The witness isn't just speculating, she's throwing darts blindfolded," Harrison looked like he was starting to sweat.

'I'm inclined to agree. Miss Perkins, do you have anything more substantial?" Patty asked.

"The day that I was abducted, a private plane was reserved at Holland Field in Oakland, with a flight plan landed at Dulles.. There were only two passengers, one of whom had to be carried on to the plane." Quinn's voice was getting harder. "The reservation was made under the auspices of Stephen Finch."

Harrison was a brilliant attorney, but even he couldn't conceal the expression that briefly crossed his face. Even Ellen could tell that he had been completely gobsmacked by this information.

"Mr. Finch was, until recently, an employee of Olivia Pope?" Patty remarked, holding her shock at bay better than he was.

"As to why he decided to resign, your guess is as good as mine," The anger was starting to leave Quinn's expression; hurt was beginning to assume it's place. "One last thing, then I will shut up. When the flight plan was filed with the FAA, in order to make sure that the bureaucracy was cut through, someone in the government arranged for a private landing."

"Who was this individual, Miss Perkins?" Patty asked.

"I believe it was Verna Thornton," Quinn told them. "You'll have to do some checking of your own, but believe me you won't have to dig that hard."

Harrison's head looked like it was going to explode at any minute. "I believe I've asked all the questions that I want to. I'm going to ask to take a break, I believe my colleagues going to need some time to pass this information on to his boss."

"There's just one last statement I'd like read into the record," Quinn turned to her attorney. "Tell her I quit."

"Holy fuck," Ellen said, when the reporters at other attorneys had left the firm. "I knew that Quinn Perkins was the tip of the iceberg. I just didn't think it was that big of one."

"Olivia Pope has her reputation for a reason," Patty was much calmer than Ellen, but no less jubilant. "Whatever it is, she must keep her secrets very close to the vest or there's no way that Wright let's Perkins anywhere near us."

"Unless he's the next Laurence Fishburne, I don't think he had a clue about any of that," Ellen told them. "Pope must keep a tighter ship than even we realized."

"If she never told Perkins, then it's tighter than we thought," Patty told her. "She won't be foolish enough to make the same mistake next time."

"I assume our next step is to refile our motion against her."

"Actually, our next step is to try and get to Verna Thornton before Olivia does," Patty told her. "It's something a shame."

"Don't tell me you're actually feeling sympathy for this particular devil."

"Of course not, but she's the swing vote on the most closely divided court in history. Which means that half of Washington is going to make sure that nobody gets anywhere near her. "

"Aren't your friends in the other half?" Ellen asked cynically.

"Yes, but they're going to be too busy attacking the first half." Patty got on the phone. "Which is why we're going to make sure someone who is, theoretically, indebted to neither half, talks to her first."

Just then, there was a buzz at Patty's desk. Wes had just showed up. "Come on in, we're all about to celebrate," Ellen told him.

"I know news travels fast; I didn't realize it could beat me here."

This was something new. "You first."

"Well, it's taken a month, Patty's friend, my friend, three science labs, and a lot of chits called in," Wes took a deep breath, "but I found the man we've been looking for."

"Olivia's Agency man?" This _was _big.

"Better. His actual name."

Harrison's self restraint was much better than anyone in Hewes & Associates would have given him credit for being; he managed to keep his composure until they were leaving the building.

"How the _Fuck _could you have done that?" he shouted at Quinn, whose expression was exactly the same as it was when she implicated Olivia.

"I may not be an attorney, but I've been at this job long enough to know what a conflict of interest looks like, and if you don't know what this is, you're too dumb to be working for Olivia," she told him calmly.

"This case had nothing to do with her-"

"You don't believe that, and even if you were stupid enough to think that Patty Hewes would go to all this trouble to nab me, the minute her name came up, I was going to be pushed aside. We both know that, so stop fucking around."

There was no arguing with that. Besides, it had finally registered. "Olivia never told you anything, did she?"

"Has she told you anything, Harrison?" Quinn pointed out. "Why she had me kidnapped? Why she threw my life away? What secret was worth killing my fiancée for?"

In point of fact, Harrison knew some of the details about Cytron, but he knew that he was being sold a bill of goods. Whatever Hollis Doyle had done, it was clear that Olivia was involved in something far greater than just this bombing, and she seemed prepared to keep the secret as long as she possibly could.

Which wasn't going to be much longer now that Quinn had opened her mouth. In a bizarre way, Quinn might have done Harrison a huge favor.

"How did you find out what happened to you?" he asked instead.

"She should never have assigned Huck to mentor me," she told him.

"He told you what he did."

"Huck would deny he had brown eyes if he could," Quinn shook her head. "The last few assignments we had, I started putting things together. Not to mention the fact that I work for Olivia Pope. That does open a lot of doors. Huck is the only person that Olivia would trust to do the kind of thing she needed to get done."

There was little point denying that. It also explained why Stephen had made such a sudden exit from their firm with no explanation- another thing that Olivia had neglected to mention. _Well, we're going to be seeing Stephen soon._

"You do know Olivia's the only person who can protect you against these people?"

"Actually, I don't know that, considering she won't even tell me who I'm running _from," _Quinn reminded him. "And considering that her way of protecting me was to scorch the earth of my previous life, maybe I should be considering other offers."

"Don't expect us to foot the bill for you back to D.C."

"Considering that one of the people making those offers is going to be David Rosen, I'd say it would be your client's best interest to make sure I'm kept safe," Quinn looked at Harrison. "Now go ahead, call Olivia, and tell her that her life just got royally fucked. Tell her that now that she's got a little hint as to what my life is like now, that it's in her best interest to make sure that it doesn't get any worse. And tell her that she's not dealing with Lindsey Dwyer anymore. Tell her I'm a fucking gladiator."

It didn't take much effort to get the subpoenas for the rest of the people on Pope's roster - the prep work had been done when the first lawsuit had been filed. It was going to be _much _harder to subpoena a sitting Supreme Court Justice - not as difficult as trying to prosecute someone with diplomatic immunity, but close.

But it was pretty clear that Thornton was in this up to her neck. On reflection, it now seemed clear that she had been the friend that Pope had called on to help influence the dismissal of both the criminal case against Dwyer and the previous class action. This was the definition of abuse of discretion, and even if you were Patty, you had to walk a _very _fine line when you made these kinds of charges, or no judge in the country would ever consider your cases again. So they had to find a link as to why Justice Thornton would risk her career to save Lindsey Dwyer from prison, twice.

Patty was the kind of person who would, on occasion, lunch with a Supreme Court Justice- four of them were on her autodial. Verna Thornton, even though she was fairly liberal, had yet to become one of them. Still, it wouldn't seem that odd for the two of them to have a chat before they raked her over the coals.

While on the train to D.C., Patty had reviewed some of the information that she had gotten from David. Considering the bombshells that Quinn had dropped, he had taken it rather calmly. He had no real idea why Thornton, who throughout her career had been regarded as an extremely ethical jurist, would risk impeachment over something like this. He knew that Olivia, while still working at the Grant White House, had pushed for her appointment over several more conservative candidates- including the VP's personal pick- but he hadn't thought that was enough of a reason, especially in DC.

After some looking into it, he had come up with some interesting gossip. In the eighteen months that Verna Thornton had been on the bench, she had made a number of visits to hospitals. She had always had a reasonable explanation for why she was there, and because the news media never pushed Supreme Court Justices as hard as they did the members of the other two branches of government, she had gotten away with it.. But after checking some online photos, he thought that there was something seriously wrong with her.

Wes' independent research had turned up one more detail. The last three hospitals she had visited for "checkups" had some of the most advanced oncology wards in the country. What was more, in the last three days, she had gone for a stay at GW for 'routine procedure', and had yet to emerge.

It didn't take a conspiracy theorist to realize that Thornton had cancer, that she might have been suffering from it her entire term on the bench, and that she had, at the very least, lied to Congress and the President about it while she was serving on the court. How any of this connected her to Quinn Perkins was not a connection that Patty had yet been able to make, but she hopped the train, knowing that this Justice might be able to be beat the wrap just by stalling for a few more weeks

Of course, even if you're Patty Hewes, you can't just barge in on the bedside of an ailing Justice, but she had no intention of being dismissed as cavalierly as she had the members of the press. To that end, she had asked David to tell the Justice Department that they were going to refile charges against Quinn Perkins.

This was the kind of thing that had gotten David into trouble before, but given Patty's involvement, they were far less inclined to laugh him out of the room. If Thornton was going to try and find a way to block this, she'd have to get off her hospital bed to do it.

By the time Patty had made it to GW, the subpoena she needed to get through the agents was on her Palm Pilot.

The guards, however, weren't about to let anyone as insignificant as a New York lawyer past her. "Justice Thornton needs her rest," one tried to pawn her off.

"Indeed. I understand the aftereffects of chemotherapy can run a person roughshod," Patty told them sweetly.

The guards looked a little uneasy, but remained steadfast.

"Very well," Patty told them. "Then I'll just have to make a call. Which do you think would interest the Huffington Post more? That a Supreme Court Justice is suffering from a fatal disease, which she hasn't told anybody on the executive branch about, or the fact that I want to talk to her about aiding and abetting a known murderer?"

The Secret Service had the decency to look a little shocked at this. "You're a disgusting human being," one told her.

"I don't give a fuck about etiquette," Patty told them bluntly. "There are things going on far more important than a woman's dignity."

Just then, a loud beeping began to emerge from the corridor. She had been to enough hospitals to know the sound of a Code Blue when she heard them, and she had a nasty suspicion as to what might just be going on. Sure enough, three doctors raised past her, knocked the door open, and began to perform resuscitative techniques on Associate Justice Verna Thornton.

They spent more than twenty minutes trying to resuscitate her, but in the end she was pronounced dead. Patty was pushed aside, first for medics, then agents, then a few minutes later, the press.

"So she died before she could talk to you. I'd say that's very convenient." Ellen told Patty an hour later. "Particularly given what our latest discovery told us."

They had finally gotten the subpoenas to go through the phone records of the judge who had dismissed the original criminal case. After some investigate, they had found a listing for a person call Judge Locke had taken an hour before the defense was scheduled to present its case. The number had been a listing from one of Thornton's clerks.

"Now that there's a paper trail leading to her, they no doubt think that they can end the case. Pope can say she was working for Thornton, and can probably come up with some sob story about how she was helping a dying friend."

Patty was quiet. "Draft a motion demanding an autopsy of Thornton."

"That's going to be difficult," Ellen pointed out. "Not to mention there is still a good possibility she did die of cancer."

"No. Someone killed her."

_One Hour Earlier_

_Thornton had been planning to end her life. Truth be told, by this point she'd probably have been considering her options anyway._

_She intended to take some sleeping pills, but not before writing a suicide note that would assign her all of the blame for what had happened two years ago. It would be enough to make sure no one asked any questions, and it would buy off Patty Hewes._

_But before she had finished, someone disguised as an orderly had entered her room, injected enough morphine into her IV drip to kill a small elephant, and while everyone else was rushing in for the Code Blue, he snuck out with the laptop that the Justice had been writing on._

_Charlie deleted the file, then left the hospital, but not before sending a text: "All done."_


	7. My Name Is Huck

Chapter 7

My Name Is Huck

_BALTIMORE_

_Patty was beginning to get a much clearer picture of how events had unfolded. David Rosen's death, tragic though it was, would do nothing by itself to stop the train that he had started. This wasn't the first death involved in this coverup. In fact, this wasn't even a second coverup. The same people who had been responsible for orchestrating the investigation, were now orchestrating a final move to wipeout the investigators. Considering the wheels that had been set into motion, it was hard to imagine any of it stopping anything but she had been doing what she did for long enough that enough red tape could bury any crime._

_It was therefore immediately obviously who the next person on this list was. Her. She knew that she should be more afraid, but frankly, after Walter Kendrick and Ray Fiske, there wasn't much left that could terrify her. It wasn't like she had much else to fight for. Anyone who gave a damn about her were dead or gone. For the first time in a long time, she wished she knew where Michael was._

_"We need to find cover," she told Ellen. "The people cleaning up this mess will be here soon enough. Wes is still in D.C."_

_"Yeah."_

_"Then really, there's only one person left." Patty told her._

_"He has no reason to help us."_

_"He didn't want David Rosen dead."_

_"Considering what he did to Olivia, that's a matter of debate." Ellen reminded her._

_"We've spent time in a room with him. You really think that he doesn't care?"_

_Ellen considered this. "All right, but I'd start coming up with a backup plan." She took out her phone and dialed. She was sent to voicemail. "This is Ellen Parsons. I need to talk to Samuel."_

_2 Months Earlier_

_Pope & Associates_

Verna Thornton's death had not shaken Patty Hewes from her target. The minute that Thornton had been pronounced, she had gotten on the phone and demanded an autopsy of the justice. This was not a mean feat, considering that the only people who should've been able to authorize it were immediate family, and Verna had died alone. She had been in the hospital too long to be subject to normal rules. And for all her fire, Patty was nothing remotely resembling a criminal attorney.

But with David Rosen's backing, she had manage to get an independent coroner to examine the body. Unfortunately, it had revealed nothing definitive. There was a huge amount of morphine in her system, but there was no evidence that Verna Thornton couldn't have done it to herself. The doctors had admitted privately that the justice had been suffering from terminal cancer- had in fact been undergoing treatment while she had been billeted for her seat on the bench. This in itself was a scandal that only an immense amount of pressure from the Grant Administration had managed to bury under the guise of being private. Patty had been on FOX News two days chewing out Cyrus Beene. The Administration's shadows had been on the next news cycle claiming that this was another example of the liberal media exploiting partisan blinders.

Thornton's death had been the catalyst for the Justice department to launch an independent investigation into Olivia's probable involvement in Cytron. David Rosen, dismissed as a lunatic six months earlier, was now being heralded as a symbol of righteousness. He knew that the White House Chief of Staff would somehow manage to get at least one of his own people inside the investigation, so he announced, he was proceeding 'with deliberate speed.'

Normally, Patty would have moved heaven and earth to keep anybody, especially someone connected with the government from doing her work for her. But as David had explained, the best way to get justice and the pay out her clients were entitled to was to start squeezing Olivia as hard as she could until they managed to find a link between her and whoever else was involved in this conspiracy.

After three months of work, both of them were agreed that one of those people was Hollis Doyle, Cytron's president, and one of the most connected industrialists in the world. Since the original crime, he had been extremely reluctant to assist anybody involved in the prosecution of the attack on his company. First rule of arson was, the man who reports the fire generally is the one who set it. And they were convinced Doyle had done something far worse than blow up his Los Angeles office.

However, as hard as both of them had tried, they had yet to find a causative link between him and whoever had actually placed the bomb, because they were positive that person wasn't Quinn Perkins. Rosen had not offered Perkins immunity for her testimony, because as he put it, "after being dicked around by these people for the last few months, I'll be fucked if I give any of them help." He was trying to find a way to use her deposition in the hearings, but he wanted to see whatever it was Patty could get from these people.

Wright, who was again representing Olivia, had tried to do what the best attorneys do when they know their clients guilty- bury your opponent in paper. If you had the right attorney and enough money, you could keep yourself out of court for at least two years. It had taken Patty nearly three to get in the same room with Arthur Frobisher, and even though Olivia was nowhere near as wealthy as the corrupt industrialist had been, she had been managing to bury them in discovery for the last month.

They had already subpoenaed everyone who had worked at Olivia's office, including Stephen Finch. They had managed to buy themselves a couple of weeks by all getting their own attorneys, trying to maintain the illusion that they were still divided. But David knew enough to know that they were still going to be solid for their boss.

There had, however, been one key exception. Patty had wanted to bury it for as long as possible, because she had a feeling getting Olivia's inside man to talk would be even harder then one of her clients. (Ellen knew this from very personal experience.) But now she wanted to make them all jump, and the surest way to show that was to breach their most secure bunker.

"We need to be clear on this. Patty Hewes is a nuisance, but she's no longer what we have to worry about," Harrison told them. "She only thinks we're guilty of something. David Rosen _knows _we are. and he represents the U.S. government."

"Isn't there some marker that you can call in?" Abby asked. "Something that can call him off."

"I've called in half the favors just to get us the lawyers we have," Olivia admitted. "No one wants to take on Patty and the U.S. government when they've both got a winning hand."

"Then why don't we give them Hollis Doyle? From everything you've told us, he deserves whatever he gets."

Olivia had considered this. While she thought that Verna had given her life to make sure that the conspiracy stayed buried, sometimes she thought it just as likely that Hollis acted to make sure she didn't give him up. Indeed, she was wondering why he hadn't taken a more definitive action on David by now. But Hollis hadn't gotten where he was without his own level of contacts. He would throw the entire government under the bus to save his ass and not think twice about it.

"Hollis knows where a lot of bodies are buried. If we turn him, he'll start calling in markers, and then lots more people- powerful people- will start moving heaven and earth. " This was the edge of the lie, but she had no intention of giving up the information he had unless they were in a final phase situation.

Harrison clearly didn't agree with this, and was about to say so, when he noticed that there was a man in a suit in the outer office. They all knew what that meant, though they were a little puzzled as to who he worked for - it seemed that everybody in the office had been served at least once.

Reluctantly, even though he was lead council, Harrison went into the office. "Leave your mail and get out."

"I've got to give these things in person, or I don't get paid," the process server said. "Which one of you is Samuel Volk?"

Irritation turned to genuine befuddlement. "You've got the wrong office. No one by that name works here."

"I've got a bunch of other aliases for him, if you want them."

"We're political consultants, not bail bondsmen. Get out."

"Look, I was told to make sure this guy Volk got served, and I'm not supposed to leave until I do."

Harrison started to read the guy the Riot Act. Olivia, however, noticed someone who had gone very still since the name had been read out. The only person in the office, in fact, who hadn't been subpoenaed yet. "Huck?"

"What are the other aliases?" Huck's tone was perfectly level and his expression hadn't changed, but she could tell that for the first time in a long time, Huck had been taken by surprise.

"Theodore Weiss, Alvin Crowe, Nathaniel Goodman..." The server kept reading them out, and Huck was mouthing the names.

"These were your legends weren't they?" Olivia told them.

Very slowly, Huck began to walk towards the rear exit. "Hey! You're supposed to accept this."

Someone had talked, someone very high in the company had ratted him out. And if he had been exposed, he had to go to ground. He might not have worked for the Company for five years, but the fact was, when your cover was blown, you ran. No matter what the circumstances.

By now, everybody else in the room knew what was going on, and were nearly as shocked as Huck was. No one could just get access to this kind of information, not Justice, and certainly not a New York attorney, even one as connected as she was. Stephen, however reacted quickest.

"You do realize you can't just disappear," he told him. "It'll just get everybody else in a lot deeper shit."

"I find it hard to believe no one else knows who he is," Abby told them.

"Huck. I promised I'd keep you safe I will do it." Olivia spoke in her usual firm tone.

Huck didn't respond to any of this, just made his way to the back door.

Where two U.S. Marshals were waiting. And someone else.

"Why am I not surprised this happened?' David asked.

"You knew about this," By now, Olivia was there.

"I owe Patty a steak dinner. I figured if Justice couldn't get Huck's actual name, there was no way in hell she could." David turned serious. "Now either you go back in there, and accept her subpoena, or I'm going to serve you with a different paper."

He held up a warrant.

"What are the charges?" Olivia demanded.

"Kidnapping, false imprisonment, and human trafficking. And don't try to bullshit me. Quinn's deposition is enough for me to hold you for arrest. And I have no intention of you getting bail."

Huck didn't move. He still hadn't said anything.

"Let me get this straight. You're holding criminal charges over Huck to make sure he doesn't run on a civil matter.' Harrison had caught up with them. "Who's side ate you on?"

"I want answers to my questions. Now I could put Huck in lock up, and have the D.C. police interrogate him, but I know goddamn well his training makes anything they have feel like a slap on the wrist." David looked at him. "Patty, though, I'm beginning to think she could find Jimmy Hoffa given what happened. Let her depose you, and I let this go. For the moment."

"You don't have a leg to stand on, and we both know it." Harrison spoke with a confidence he no longer felt after three months of dealing with these people.

"Fine. Take Mr. Volk into custody."

"There's no need for this." Everyone was a little shocked that Huck had finally spoken. "How long will it take her to depose me?"

"I can't speak for Patty, but these things rarely take more than a couple of hours. Of course," David looked Huck in the face. "that does depend on what you tell her. "

He didn't add that these charges wouldn't be going anywhere,. Under other circumstances, David would've offered Huck immunity, even given the severity of his crimes. But he knew Volk- God, it seemed weird to keep referring to Huck as that- wasn't going to sell out Olivia. He'd worked for her far longer than any of Pope's other associates, and he'd probably carried out more illegal activities than the rest of them combined. He had no idea what questions Patty was going to ask to make him talk, but he couldn't pretend that she couldn't make it happen.

"When does she want to meet?" Huck asked.

Harrison looked at the subpoena. "Three days from now. Huck, we can fight this -"

"I'll do it." No hesitation, but then again, that was how Olivia's people operated. Do anything to protect the client, even when that client is your boss.

"Fine," David gestured to the Marshals. "Just to make sure, one of them will remain outside your office until you go to New York. If anything should happen between than and now-"

"You'll arrest him, we know."

"Actually, we'll arrest the four of you. Aiding and abetting the escape of a known criminal." David looked at Olivia. "I'm under no illusions as to how difficult it would be to keep Mr. Volk in custody should he choose to make a break for it. I'm going to appeal to his sense of loyalty to you. He might not give a fuck about his own safety, but he sure as hell gives a shit about yours."

This was playing dirty, or, as the people who worked in that office all knew, playing hardball. David seemed to have grown a set of balls of his own.

"Of course, you will allow him to be represented by counsel," Olivia replied.

"Naturally." David replied. "Get a good one." And with that veiled insult, he left.

3 Days later

HEWES AND ASSOCIATES

They'd done as much prep work as they could on Volk, a.k.a. Huck Finn. Unfortunately, it didn't amount to much. Most of the files that they'd gotten on him had been redacted to the point of ludicrousness. The people in the Company were even less willing to talk to Patty's people than everybody else in this case. The majority of what they were going to do was going to be flying blind, going on the word of what Quinn Perkins had revealed in her deposition. And as they all knew, she was not a reliable source.

The only thing they had going in their favor was that Volk had disappeared from the Company five years ago. None of the work he did could be connected to the government in any way at all. There were certain endorsement that they might be able to throw at him, but as cruelly as Patty played the game, she was reluctant to fire this underhanded a pitch unless she absolutely had to.

Ellen had a feeling that it was going to come down to that.

But Volk had surely been trained to withstand physical torture; he was just as well trained to withstand the emotional kind.

Truthfully, this had been more a movement of theater rather than anything else. They had wanted to see how much Pope and her people jumped when they got to the most inside of inside men. And while they may have been able to withstand their most junior member jumping ship, the fact was Quinn Perkins hadn't been willing to talk to either Patty or David Rosen. They were still protecting her, though they figured it had to be more of the 'keep your enemy close' kind of deal.

Volk, according to David, was family, or maybe as close to it as a person like her had. He wasn't going to sell her out at the first, or even the most blatant, signs of danger. Ellen would've asked what would inspire this kind of loyalty, but she remembered Uncle Pete all too well.

Hopefully, the situation wouldn't have to be that drastic. Ellen had a nasty feeling that it would.

When Volk showed up (and none of them were exactly shocked to see that Wright was acting as his council), he was wearing a suit that looked at least one size too large for him. He looked extremely uncomfortable, whether it was due to being in that suit or the fact that he was about to undergo this interrogation was hard to say, but Ellen had a feeling that it had to due with the suit. She would bet any amount of money that he had never worn one before. For good reason.

The wardrobe would make it very difficult to wash blood out of.

They had deciding going that Ellen would handle the deposition. It had clearly unsettled Wright the last time they had let her go, and even though that had clearly been an element of surprise at first, she had a feeling that Harrison was only prepared to go for the jugular against people he considered a threat. After all, David had been an ally. Volk was going to be anything but.

Aside from the suit, Volk hadn't made any major changes to his appearance. His beard was still unshaved. His hair barely look combed. He looked particularly pasty. If they had an advantage, it was that this arena was definitely not one he was the master of the universe.

Ellen established that with her very first question. "State your name for the record."

Volk paused. Most people didn't need to think before answering this one. "My name is Huck," he finally answered.

Ellen saw a chance to get first blood. "I'm not going to refer to you by an alias. Especially when I know what your real name is."

"My name is Huck," Volk pushed on.

"We both know that's not true. Why don't you want me to call you by your real name, Mr. Volk?"

"I haven't used that name, since I was twenty-five, I'm not going to use it with you," Volk's voice went up a single register, but that was it. His face remained exactly the same

"Miss Parsons, we have a long day ahead of us; do you really want this process to be delayer while we decide what name to call my client, who last I checked has not been charged with anything?"

If Wright had been skirting the edge of the lie before, he was in complete bullshit territory now. The only reason Volk was in the room in the first place was under the threat of prosecution. And not wanting to give your name for the people investigating you for wrongdoing was the surest sign to any jury that your client was a liar.

But if Huck really was Samuel Volk and had done even a fraction of the things they thought he had, Ellen really didn't want to get bogged down in semantics. Not yet.

"All right, we'll let that go for now. We won't deal with the things Samuel Volk did and we'll settle for the things Huck Finn did. 'Cause there are a lot of them." Ellen looked at Volk. "How did you come to meet Olivia Pope?"

"She saved my life," Volk looked at her. "I was living out of garbage cans at Roosevelt Station, and she gave me a job to come to, and a purpose to my life. That's what Olivia does. She helps people."

"Move to strike," Ellen told the stenographer.

"Why? You don't want the defendant to have a good side?" Harrison demanded.

"Assuming I believe the first part of the statement, which I don't, I find it hard to believe Olivia Pope just happen to find the person who did all her dirty work at exactly the right time." She pushed a folder over to Wright. "By the way, that's his file."

"What am I supposed to think of a redacted file?"

"Mainly, that there's thirty pages of it. If I'm reading this right, that's a lot of dirty work in a really short time." Volk didn't even flinch at this. "That doesn't even account for his time at AA meetings."

Volk blinked. Barely. Ellen wasn't sure, but she thought the equivalent for any other deponent would be the equivalent of a jaw drop. Wright's reaction time was quicker, but she could tell that he had been just as blindsided.

"That's hardly a crime," Wright argued. "Isn't being an alcoholic practically de rigueur among every walk of life?"

"Confessing your sins to others would be sure to get you a bullet in the brain if you were found doing it at the company," Ellen said slowly. "Considering what you've probably helped Olivia Pope with, I'd be surprised if she could take it either. I don't think you're going there because you have an addiction to booze or drugs. I think you're addicted to something far worse than that." She paused, waiting to see if she got any more of a reaction. He managed to maintain a stone face.

"But fine, you don't want to talk about that either, how about you tell me what you do for Olivia Pope?"

"I work on the technical parts. Surveillance. Computer background checks-"

"What you actually do, Mr. Volk. What were you doing for Olivia Pope in June two years ago?"

Volk remained silent. "Mr. Wright, remind your client that he can either answer the question here, or in front of a jury."

"Perhaps you could give a date."

"June 14. What were you doing that day?"

"I don't recall."

Ellen very slowly rubbed her hand over her head. "Remind Mr. Volk that we're prepared to wait as long as it takes to get a direct answer."

"He gave you one."

"Fine. Let me refresh his memory." It was time to bring in Wes' handiwork. She took out a manila envelope. "Plaintiff's exhibit 37J." She opened it, and handed it to the deponent. "Would you care to identify the photograph?"

Again Volk maintained a deadpan appearance. Wright, however, blinked twice. "This picture comes from a security camera an Chatsworth Regional Airport. I realize the beard obscures a lot of the face, but that is you, Mr. Volk?"

"If you already know, why are you asking the question?" Volk said coolly

"Unresponsive," Ellen put her hand up. "This picture was taken on June 14. One of the air traffic controllers identified you as taking a plane there that afternoon, and leaving that evening."

"Does he?"

"She, Mr. Volk."

"She remembered my face from something that supposedly happened two years ago. If you've held my job, you know how unreliable eyewitness testimony is a week after it happens."

"And I just made this security footage appear out of thin air," Ellen pressed.

"Photos can be doctored. Footage can be altered."

"Even the time stamp?" Ellen waved this off. "The airport is not one of the busiest ones in California; they get maybe three planes a month. When someone comes to file a flight plan they remember and take records of it. And the controller very clearly identified you."

"If I had done this, what makes you think I'd be stupid enough to use my real name, especially considering how much work you had to go through just to dig it up?"

The bastard seemed unusually smug, considering how unsettled he'd been when Ellen had just asked his name. Olivia clearly didn't hire fools.

"That's going to be your strategy. Say that every bit of evidence we've gathered against you has been doctored or staged." Ellen pressed "What about Quinn Perkins? Do you consider her an unreliable witness?"

"Miss Parsons, I read the transcripts, and I didn't see anything their that Quinn knew who her kidnapper was."

"No, but she had a very interesting theory, as to who arranged her little cross-country trip."

"I didn't do it, and you have no evidence to suggest otherwise."

"Well then, Mr. Volk, we are at an impasse. If your to answer to the eyewitnesses and evidentiary testimony is going to be that they are wrong and the evidence is false, then there's really isn't much point to this."

"Then may I go?"

"We're done when I say we are."

Ellen went item by item through all their evidence for the next three hours. Apart from blinking a couple of times when his name was mention, Volk gave them nothing they could use. He had an answer for every question they gave him- they were all bullshit answer, but still ones that were technically possible. And she had a feeling that if they dragged him in front of a judge, they would still get nothing. This guy wanted to go down with the ship.

When they went on break for lunch, Ellen reluctantly admitted that they weren't going to get anything from Volk because that guy, for all intents and purposes had been denying his crimes for a long time.

"If you want to we can drag this out for another day, but I don't think Wright will let this stand."

"Why wouldn't he? Everything's going in his favor for was," Patty pointed out. "We're chasing a ghost, and in the light of day, they can still find a way to stay hidden."

"So we're fucked."

"Not necessarily. According to David, the remainder of Pope's associates were very shocked when they learned we even knew Volk's real name." Patty reminded her. "And Wright went apeshit when Quinn Perkins sold them out. Let's see if we can shake him up a little more."

"How exactly do we do that?"

Patty explained. It didn't take long.

"I think you'll agree we've been more than reasonable," Wright told them when they got returned the table.

"There are many words I'd use to describe your client," Ellen countered. "Trust me when I tell you that reasonable doesn't even make the top ten. And what is busy doing that he doesn't have time to talk with us about?"

Volk just kept a taciturn appearance. So did Wright. "Then get to the point, or I'm going to ask for sanctions."

Ellen just raised an eyebrow. "If Lindsey Dwyer believes that you are responsible for turning her into Quinn Perkins, why on earth should we believe your version of events rather than hers?"

"Asked and answered," Wright told them.

Another bullshit response. Ellen had asked but Volk sure as shit hadn't answered. "Mr. Volk, this is exactly the kind of work you used to do for a living. We have more than enough evidence to suggest you did, even allowing for your little story that pixies are more responsible for them then you. If we were to bring this evidence before a criminal court, I've a feeling they'd more than likely put you in prison for it."

"Is there a question here?" Wright was getting impatient.

"What is Olivia Pope paying you to make you fall on your sword?" Ellen demanded.

It took a moment for what Ellen had just accused his boss to register. "What did you say?" Wright genuinely sounded like he hadn't even considered the same question.

"What exactly is the financial price for kidnapping and false imprisonment? I'm sure that will interest the LAPD, not to mention the attorney general," Ellen replied. "I can't think of any other reason a Company man would be willing to flush his life down the toilet."

Wright got to his feet. "That's it. We're done."

"Either Ellen can ask these questions or David Rosen can, " Patty spoke up for the first time in nearly an hour. "I'd consider that before you go anywhere."

"This is offensive, Miss Hewes," Wright replied.

"Really, Mr. Wright? Because I'm pretty sure if we tell the judge what we believe, he's going to find the deaths of those people in California far more offensive than the discomfiture of your client." Patty looked at her. "And he's certainly going to consider your presence at this deposition something of a conflict of interest."

The mood around the table had gotten a lot chillier. Ellen and Patty had every intention of dropping the thermostat quite a bit lower if they didn't start getting some answers. And if Wright really had been here to protect his client, he would've encouraged Volk to answer the question.

But Samuel Volk was no more being represented here than Quinn Perkins had been. The only reason Volk wasn't offering a more solid defense was because he was following the same script that everyone on Olivia's team had been. It was because he was determined to stop whatever grenades were being launched at him.

Volk looked at Patty. "Olivia Pope has done more for me than you could ever understand," he told her. "

"More than Lucy?" Patty asked, almost casually.

For the first time since the interview had started, Volk gave more than a casual reaction. He actually swallowed twice. And now, Wright looked confused.

"You regard Olivia Pope as your family. Is that because she doesn't know about your real one?"

A small drop of perspiration appeared on Volk's forehead. "That has nothing to do with what we're talking about."

"I know what it's like to lose your family," An empathetic tone entered Patty's voice. "I know what it's like to push the people you love away. Why did you do it, Mr. Volk? Are you trying to protect your wife and son?"

"I don't want to talk about this."

"That's the real reason you left the CIA, Mr. Volk. They don't want their agents to have families. They consider them to be liabilities. So you walked away from your wife and baby boy to keep them safe."

Volk was now crushing the armrest of his chair with his hand.

"But you didn't go very far. They're still living in Georgetown. Lucy has been raising David alone since then. How do you think he'll be growing up without a father?"

Wright didn't know what the hell was going on, and even if he did, Volk was clearly in no condition to answer. "What does any of this have to do with-"

"You thought you could protect them by running away. You changed your name, erased yourself from the grid, and you figured if you disappeared from their lives, they'd stop looking for them. You know how long it took my investigator to find them after we found out who you were. Three days. How long do you think it'll be before the company tracks them down, now that you're back on the radar?"

CRACK! The armrest of the chair now came completely off Volk leapt off his seat, and jumped at Patty.

"You stay away from them! Stay the fuck away from my family! Don't you fucking go near them! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!"

Harrison, Ellen, the stenographer, and half the people in the room had to get between Volk to stop him from doing something truly unthinkable to Patty. And he was going a damn good job of fighting them all off before they managed to get him out of the room. His shouting became damn near incoherent, but the word "Family" was being repeated.

Patty didn't even seem to have a hair out of place, and why should she? This was far from the first time an angry deponent had tried to rush her.

"Let's take a short recess," she said to the ones who were left.

About a half hour later. Harrison Wright returned. Alone.

"That was truly despicable, Miss Hewes." he said, trying to build up his dignity.

"Considering the lives destroyed by what happened at Cytron, I hardly think deposing a man who could very well be a suspect hardly falls under the level of an impeachable offense." Patty responded

"Do you really think he did it?" Harrison demanded.

"Do you know for a fact he didn't? While you're considering that, here's another question: Volk is the second person you shared office space with over the past year who was living under an assumed name, which makes me wonder, just how much do you bother to learn about the people you work with, Mr. Wright?"

The fact was, Harrison was far more shaken up by this than he wanted to admit to himself. He wasn't sure which bothered him more: the fact that Olivia had been completely lying about another person he was supposed to trust, or that this man, who had never raised his voice more than an octave in the three years they'd worked together, had all but exploded. Frankly, he was amazed that more people hadn't been hurt. He knew how deadly Huck could be.

"Olivia trusted him, that was good enough..." he started.

"You're either incredibly naive or incredibly moronic, and frankly, Mr. Wright, I couldn't care less right now." Patty demanded. "Because in about two minutes, you're going to formally withdraw as counsel for Samuel Volk."

"And why would I do that?" Harrison replied.

"Because I'm about to offer Mr. Volk a deal. One that's involves him testifying in my favor. And since your first job is to cover Olivia Pope's ass, it's in his best interest that he get his own lawyer."

Harrison had known that from the moment Patty Hewes had made this case her own, she was going to make it her business to destroy Olivia. She'd already done a scorched earth on her reputation; now she was going to finish what she'd started when she had turned her lights on Quinn, and destroy her colleagues. He was probably going to have to get council of his own soon, giving the way she was going at it.

"What do you want?"

"Convey our wishes to Mr. Volk. Get him in here in the next twenty-four hours. Which is exactly how long we're going to wait before we hand you over to the kinder auspices of the Justice Department." Patty looked at him. "And remind him that in the scenario we're discussing, _I'm_ the good cop."

And that was a frightening situation to contemplate.

HEWES AND ASSOCIATES

One Day Later

Who was he?

Huck had been contemplating that ever since he had been served with a subpoena under a name he hadn't used in a very long time. He'd been calling himself by a name so fake no respectable spy would dare use it for a cover for nearly five years. Ever since he had gotten into bed with the CIA.

They'd given him a choice when he'd finished his second tour in Afghanistan. Work for them or do a third tour. Even now, he had no idea how he'd ended up on the Company's radar- he'd been in special Ops while in the Marines, but so had a dozen other guys. The only difference between them and him was that he'd come back alive.

There were days where he wished he hadn't. This was starting to feel like one of them.

"Part of the reason I referred to you by your 'real name'," Patty said, when they sat down in her office that day, "is that I refuse to call anybody by someone else's name. It's another layer of bullshit I have to wade through, and I do enough of that on a daily basis. Especially when this bullshit bears the sign and symbol of the U.S. government."

"It's not complete bull," he said slowly. "I was born Samuel Langhorne Volk. My mother was a Mark Twain fanatic. When I joined the marines, my first drill sergeant was an American Lit major. Wasn't that much of a stretch from there."

Patty considering. "So you used a bit of truth to complete your own legend. How does that make you any better than all the other people who do dirty work under the name of national security?"

"I never said I was," Huck responded.

"But you did it anyway. " Patty told him. "Mr. Volk, you have no idea how much it turns my stomach to do what I'm about to do. We're very different in almost imaginable way, but the one thing I we do have is that we have very fixed belief systems. Even if each of our systems is diametrically the opposite of the other."

"I've done my homework, and I have no doubt that's true", Huck replied. "It's the reason I came here without an attorney."

"You were a military man," Patty told them. "That much is in your file. Your father was one of the unlucky few who didn't come out of Desert Storm alive. Yet somehow, you managed to take on the duty of serving our country. The highest service one can give for their country."

"I take you don't agree."

"The right to free speech is also pretty high on the list of our country. Yet somehow if we make noises even resembling protest, we're branded as traitors." Patty looked at him. "Has that ever made sense to you? From a logical standpoint? Isn't it possible we can support the troops and hate the war? Why are those two things mutually exclusive?"

"I honestly don't know. I've never met a soldier in the field who didn't think war was cruel and inhumane. I would give anything I had not to have spent a day in combat." And he meant it.

"Well, I didn't come down here to discuss semantics with you," Patty replied. "This has always been an issue with me. And the fact of the matter, I can't exactly accuse of crimes against humanity. Our government has gone to a great deal of trouble to make sure that I can't." She handed him one of the completely redacted pages that made up his Agency file.

"I'm not going to ask how you got that," Huck told her. "Why did you call me down here?"

"Olivia Pope inspires loyalty among her people, I know that much after three months," Patty looked at him. "But I also know that her business is making people who want to expose the rich and powerful take a better offer. And that, much as it pains me, what I'm going to do for you."

"I'm not interested in money or politics," Huck replied.

"What about your family?" Patty looked at him.

"I don't have a family anymore."

"I have a son. Michael. Maybe I'm not using the right tense anymore. He disappeared two years ago. No police have been able to find him. Because I've made my life like this, ninety-five percent of the time, I don't give a shit." Patty was reluctant to show any vulnerability, but going full force wasn't going to work here.. "But sometimes late at night, I have this ache in parts of me that I managed to keep shut off. Regrets, mostly. I wish I could take some of it back."

"Some of what?"

"It doesn't matter," Patty wasn't go to go this far with a stranger. "The point is, it's probably too late to fix things with my son, even I knew where he was. But it's not too late for you."

"I left my wife and son for a reason," he told her.

"And those reasons are no longer valid. They stopped being valid the moment you appeared on the radar."

"And who do I have to thank for that?"

"You disappeared once. But you didn't go very far, or for that matter, make a concerted effort to stay invisible. Someone with your skills could probably do a better job, given the right amount of money."

For the first time in a very long time, Huck had been taken by surprise. "Are you trying to bribe me?"

"I am offering a deal, Mr. Volk," Patty put her hands on the table. "If you help me find out who is responsible for the Cytron bombing, I will reunite you with your family. And when we're all done, you will all disappear. Only this time, not even we will be able to find you."

"You're asking me to turn on the woman who's done nothing but support me," Huck told her. "You apparently think my soul is as gone as the rest of my fellow agents."

"If I really thought Olivia Pope was who I was chasing, it wouldn't have taken me three months to get here. The reason she's putting up this much of a fight is because she's protecting someone very important. And I know you're smart enough to know that it's bigger than just a Supreme Court Justice." Patty looked at him. "Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"She doesn't pay me to be curious," Huck answered.

"We've just established that you're not doing this for the paycheck." Patty held up a hand. "You don't want to press your boss, fine. But answer me this. Why did Olivia have you abduct and give a new identity to Lindsey Dwyer?"

There wasn't much point in arguing it; Patty had enough evidence so that any judge in the country would have Huck in custody the second she showed it to them. And now that Thornton was dead, she didn't have the same pull over the judiciary to make them look the other way.

"Olivia told me that unless swift action was taken, Dwyer would be dead in a matter of days," Huck admitted.

"Who was the threat?"

"She wouldn't tell me." Huck inhaled. "But the day after she provided Dwyer's file, she resigned her position at the White House. And she's never given an explanation to anyone- even me- as to why."

_2 Months Later_

_"I'm a little surprised you called, given how our last meeting went," Huck told Ellen._

_"Our option are fairly limited right now. It looks like people have started to clean house, and we're the definition of loose ends."_

_"And I'm one of the people who does the cleaning, so again, why come to me?"_

_"The offer still stands, Mr. Volk," Ellen repeated. "Help us, and all debts are paid."_

_There was a long pause. "What do you need me to do?" he finally asked._

_"The people who killed David Rosen, do you know who they used?"_

_Another long pause. "Yes."_

_One Day Earlier_

_David Rosen's Apartment_

_Huck had done as good a job of making sure that a disturbance would be reported. They might suspect a burglary, but they'd find no evidence that he'd been there._

_Then he went to the center of the room, and finished zipping David into the body bag he always carried with him._


	8. Lose My Number

Chapter 8

Lose My Number

POPE & ASSOCIATES

"You did what!?" Harrison shouted.

Whatever nerves Huck had shown in his deposition were gone; he was back to being the rock. "I did what was in Olivia's best interest. And right now, your best interest is served by having an inside man."

"There are other ways to do this. Safer ways."

"She found out who I was," Huck needed a moment, which for him was virtually breaking into a sweat. "The U.S. government hasn't been able to track me down in nearly five years. She did it in three months. Quinn was flipped by her only doing a half-ass job. You really think that we're not in danger?"

There was no denying it. The vultures were starting to circle. Cyrus was now calling her every day, and not to wish her luck or give her support. The President had been calling her nearly every other day and offering both. Somehow, that was worse. This was no longer a matter of protecting her reputation; this was about trying to stay out of prison. And that might be the least painful option available.

"Do you think you can buy her off?" Olivia asked bluntly

"For a few weeks, maybe. Unfortunately, nothing's going to stop David. And the fact is, we may have bigger problems than that soon." Huck told them.

"Federal prison isn't a small deal, Huck. At least not to us." Harrison reminded him.

"I don't know what kind of information Patty and David are exchanging, but they've got the attention of some powerful people," Huck told them. "And at least one of those people is on the House Judiciary."

"Let me guess. Those people are Democrats," Olivia said slowly. "And with mid-terms less than a month away, they're trying to score political points by going after someone who used to be a key member of the Grant Administration."

"Hey, you're the politicos in this office, not me. Right now, it may be a rumor. But Rosen wouldn't be heading this way if he didn't think there was some meat on this particular bone." Huck looked at Olivia. "Tell me she's got nothing more than Verna Thornton."

And now they were there. The wolf was at the gate. "The trail was supposed to stop with Thornton," she told her colleagues.

"What trail?" Abby demanded.

"The one that connects me to her, Hollis Doyle, and two other people. And I will not be responsible for giving them up."

"Pardon my French, but why the fuck not?" Harrison asked. "Are they politicians or not?"

"That is not our problem,. But if they are identified, if what we are involved in comes too light, the entire federal government might collapse."

Olivia never used hyperbole. The fact that she had was nearly as grave a concern as Huck being made nervous.

"Can Hewes prove that?" Harrison asked.

"I don't think so. There are no witnesses; there is no evidence. Hollis Doyle made very sure of that."

"If you were to just give her Doyle, do you think they would stop sniffing around these other people?" Abby asked.

Olivia shook her head. "Hollis lives for money and power. In order to keep both, he'll sell us out or make sure no one's left to connect the dots."

"Besides, Hewes knows that there's something bigger at the end of all this," Huck reminded them.

THE WHITE HOUSE

ROOSEVELT ROOM

Cyrus Beane was effectively the co-President of the United States, and in October, there were at least a dozen different things that needed to get done every ten minutes. There was a suicide bomber who'd attacked the Gaza Strip. There was the underground nuclear test in Pakistan, right on the border of Kashmir, and India's PM had been addressing Parliament with a very hostile tone. There was the most recent unemployment report indicating recovery. there was a deficit report indicated the opposite. There was another posting about a rumor NSA wiretapping scandal. There were eight Congressman in four swing states each saying the President needed to visit their district tomorrow or they would lose the House in a month. Not to mention his dealings with Mellie, which would've given Jim Baker a stroke.

He was a great multi-tasker- anyone who had even a mid-level job in the West Wing had to be or they'd be tossed out on their ass after a day. But he'd been off his game for the last couple of weeks, mainly because every five minutes, he was checking Fox News or CNN waiting for Patty Hewes to drop her next shoe.

He knew there were more important people in this mess to worry about. Hollis Doyle was on his best day, a vituperative son-of-a-bitch, and who was more than capable of pulling the trigger on anyone he thought might threaten his livelihood. (Part of the reason Cyrus was checking the news was to make sure that Hewes' body hadn't washed up on the banks of the East River.) David Rosen had been making calls around the Justice Department for the last few weeks, demanding subpoenas for things that were very close to what he'd done his best to bury for two years. And of course, there was the possibility that the President, who knew about Olivia's problems, but didn't know why they were happening, might decide to get involved, which was, literally, the worst possible thing that could happen.

The only person he wasn't worried about talking was, ironically, Olivia. She had kept far more important secrets for far less important reasons. Her career might be going down in flames, but she wasn't go add napalm to a forest fire. Half of his calls from Hollis were to assure him that Olivia was a rock.

No, Patty Hewes was the problem, and how to stop it was something he still hadn't cracked yet. He knew that the last time the government had tried to bring her down, it had been the government who went to jail, not her. Pell had been a very good friend before she had started looking into UNR and Walter Kendrick, and now he was never going to leave prison because of how well Patty had sunk him. The irony was that there were things in Hewes past that warranted government involvement- her hands were as dirty as the people she investigated. But if he tried to use it to make a move on her, it would automatically reinforce to a vast majority of the public that Hewes _was _on to something. And transparency was the last thing the Administration needed now.

They were still trying to recover from the revelations about Verna's fatal illness. The fact that their first nominee for the Supreme Court had lied about having cancer during her confirmation process pretty much guaranteed that nobody the White House nominated was going to be given the same streamlining she'd gotten, not to mention the controversy that they were filling the same seat that had when they'd gotten elected. This was another crisis he should be handling, and wasn't. After all, when there's a possibility that whoever you name will be a witness in a Congressional hearing, it took a special kind of balls to deal with that.

Just then a text came over his mobile. The Vice President wanted to meet with him. Sally Langston was probably the second to last person he wanted to talk to under any circumstances. Now, however, he had a sinking feeling as to what the conversation might be about.

"What kind of game are you trying to play?" the Vice President told him ten minutes later.

"There are so many games I'm trying to play, but since the rules indicate they are for children fourteen and up, I figured you wouldn't be interested," Insulting Sally was usually a sure way to get the blood flowing.

Langston, however, wouldn't be denied. "Three separate Congressmen have come to me, telling me about this mess with Justice, saying that Patricia Hewes and David Rosen are on some kind of witch hunt."

"And you were upset that you she was taking the job away from you?"

"Damn it, Cyrus, I'm trying to be helpful. Now this may be hard for you to accept, but the fact is, I know the woman. There are ways to handle her before this becomes a circus."

Cyrus would sooner stick this head in the mouth of a great white shark- with a nosebleed- then accept any kind of help from the Vice President. The fact that she was offering without even putting up the demand for a quid pro quo made him even more suspicious. But the fact was, he had a thousand other things that required more than the ten percent attention he was giving them. And, it gave him a cruel bit of satisfaction that two of his least favorite women (Mellie Grant would no doubt be upset that she'd fallen to third in this particular ranking) would be bloodying each other's noses. He couldn't, however, afford to sound too eager.

"Whatever mess these two lawyers are trying to enmesh Olivia Pope in hasn't fallen under our purview," he reminded her. "White House makes any kind of response, suddenly they have a lot more credibility."

"Patricia Hewes always hunts for the biggest game possible," the Vice President reminded her. "Only reason she hasn't taken shots in our direction is because she saving them until they can do the maximum amount of damage."

Cyrus was thinking along these lines too, but he would be damned if he even agreed with Sally Langston about the temperature. "This woman loves to pick fights. Nine times out of ten, so do I. But a battle between anybody and the government, the government comes out the bully."

"Have you met this woman?" the Vice President asked. "She could make Attila the Hun seem like he belonged in the National Guard. All you have to do is get the right people in front of the camera and she can be made to seem like the monster she is."

There was a certain attractiveness to this. "And I suppose you have a name in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. It just depends if you'll give the word."

The Vice President didn't ask for permission to do things. She just did them. This made Cyrus a little more nervous. Then he remembered just how high the stakes could actually get. "Officially, we never had this conversation," he told her.

"And unofficially?"

He looked at her very carefully. "Get her."

HEWES AND ASSOCIATES

THE NEXT DAY

Things had been moving a lot smoother since they had managed to recruit Volk to their side. Patty knew that she was going to have to play very close to the chest with this ex-Company man. She'd had some people snap during her interrogations of them, she'd received her share of death threats, but Volk was probably the most dangerous ones. She asked her people to provide her with extra protection for the duration, knowing full well that more than a few people had died under her watch.

She didn't think that she needed that much. Both Perkins and Volk might have been loyal to Olivia, but they wanted to know what was at the bottom of this as much as she did. Not for the first time, she realized how alike she and Olivia Pope were, and that under other circumstances...

She shrugged it off. Olivia wasn't the real target of this case, but she was keeping the secret of something very dangerous, though how it came to involve the unholy trinity of her, Doyle and the late Verna Thornton was still something she was having trouble figuring out. She needed to get into a room with Pope, but not until she could make the connections.

Just then, Ellen walked in. "Someone fucked us," she told Patty, turning on the television in her office.

Before Patty could even react to this, Ellen turned the station to CNN. Anderson Cooper was on, and he'd begun an expose on one of the most ruthless litigators today. "She claims to be on the side of justice, and she may be acting on the part of better angels, but there is a significant human cost. With me is Virginia Fiske, wife of the late Raymond Fiske, an expert litigator who had the misfortune to oppose Miss Hewes during the civil trial of industrialist Arthur Frobisher."

There were very few things that could stop Patty dead in her tracks. Mentioning Ray Fiske one of them. Even now, nearly four years after the Frobisher case, she still had nightmares of the decaying corpse. Fiske hectoring her with that Texas drawl that she could provide as money to charity as she wanted; her hands would never be clean.

Virginia managed to maintain a calm and level tone as she discussed her late husband. She freely admitted that while working for Frobisher he had been under an extreme amount of stress, particularly after his company had gone under, but he had seemed fine until the civil suit had been launched. He had grown increasingly erratic and isolated, and that even all these years later, she still had no concrete idea why her husband had killed himself. "I buried my husband, but I have never been able to put him to rest," she said.

The sad part was that Patty was ninety-nine percent sure that Mrs. Fiske hadn't been rehearsed. There had been a lot of fallout from Fiske's suicide- that Ellen had managed to forgive her for what she had done had been the biggest surprise- and this woman had a lifetime of grudges probably brought up because of them. She knew that the widow was probably being used by greater forces than her, but they probably hadn't had to push her that hard.

Ellen remained mostly silent through the interview. She didn't have to mention that had they come to her not long after David's murder, they wouldn't have had to try hard to get her to badmouth Patty. There were a lot of ugly feelings about what had happened, and she hadn't wanted to deal with them even three years later. Whoever had figured out that this was the best way to raise feelings against her had very clearly done their homework. And she was willing to bet that Perkins or Volk had double-crossed them.

Patty finally came out of her daze. Seeing her sins raised on cable news was nothing new, but she didn't think that Pope had been the one to do it. The woman played hard, but she rarely played this dirty. Then again, she had been a very popular press secretary, and some of the people she had helped out had been important people in the media.

"Someone wants us to run for cover," she finally said.

"They really don't know you very well if they think this'll shut you up," Ellen remarked with just a shade of her old bitterness.

"I have no doubt this is only the start."

And she was right. In the next three hours, all of the old ghosts from the last few years came up. The breakup of Patty's marriage, the disappearance of Patty's son after being suspected of trying to rear end her, how loyal employees of her firm had ended up dead (hearing Tom Shayes' name being brought up opened up a vein that they had both just managed to put to rest).. By the time, the newscycle was over, the once proud name of Patty Hewes had been shit on so much that it was hard to imagine it ever be made trustworthy again.

"I suppose this is what qualifies as tit for tat," Patty finally said at the end of the day. "Considering how much damage I've done to Olivia Pope, I'm just amazed her friends haven't started responding sooner."

Ellen in the meantime was thoughtful. They had gotten all of the bigger players in Patty's life in the last few years, but one particular name hadn't spoken out against. One who had just as big a reason to be upset, and whose position could have done the most possible damage to the case.

"Why wasn't Tom's sister spinning?" she asked Patty.

Patty had been considering this as well. "People in Justice can't talk about an active investigation," she reminded her.

"You really think she would let procedure hold up the chance to blame me for her brother's death?" Ellen bluntly asked. "And it would give Justice all the reason in the world to force Rosen to drop the case."

"Maybe we have more friends in government than we think we do," Patty showed the first sign of optimism since she'd seen Fiske's widow on TV.

"You're sure about this," Even given everything that he had learned over the last few months, David was still having a hard time accepting some of what he'd been hearing.

"You know how this place works. A Congressman farts, and we all have to do start prepping out resignation letters." Cynthia Shayes looked at him. "Someone came into my office yesterday, asking questions about Justice's recent investigations. We're trying to nail down one of the biggest drug lords in the country, and he wants to know is about what Cytron is about."

"It's the worst kept secret in the capital," David pointed out.

"Not from me, I still don't know what the fuck we're investigating," Cynthia told him. "And this person doesn't either. His next five questions are all about Patty Hewes. Did my brother work for her? When did he die? Was there criminal involvement? Now, I never miss a chance to run down Patty, but even I can read the smoke signals here."

"So why didn't you? You made it perfectly clear when I talked to you four months ago, you hated her guts."

"Patty Hewes is many things, but she is never wrong. She was right when she thought there was corruption surrounding Walter Kendrick, and she's right now. And as much as I want to see her dead, I'm not going to let anyone else get the privilege."

David didn't know how serious she was, and frankly, he wasn't ready to find out.

"Last night was a public lynching. Someone in power is nervous. This was their attempt at a preemptive strike," Cynthia continued. "And while I can't prove it, the person who asked me was the aide to the minority whip."

It's one thing to think that people in power are trying to bring you down; it's another to have confirmation. "Why the fuck hasn't someone tried to shut me down? Make things a whole lot easier," he asked.

"Because anything that resembles stepping on your toes gives a public face to this. Patty knows that this war has to be waged in the media, and as long as their eyes are on you, it's going to be very hard for them to make a move against you." Cynthia then asked the question she'd been trying to avoid. "What the fuck have you gotten yourself into, David?"

That was the question everybody in D.C. had been asking him in some form. Because she was one of the few people he trusted, he decided to give her an honest answer. "I wish I knew. I've spent the last month talking with the LAPD and Patty's people, trying to get a handle on what the fuck Alex Payton was investigating when someone blew Cytron's offices to hell, but they're no closer to figuring it out than I am."

"Do you have any proof that they're not just making this stuff up?" Cynthia asked. "That maybe the Feds just went after the wrong person?"

"They didn't turn Dwyer into Perkins for kicks," David reminded her. "The only people who know what the hell is about work for Olivia Pope. And Harrison Wright and his shadows will make goddamn sure that they never see the inside of a grand jury."

"Then you're screwed," Cynthia told him. "I thought her people were rock solid for her."

"When this mess started, I would've said the same thing about Quinn Perkins," David reminded her. "Pressure from Hewes broke her in three months. They figured out who her inside man with just a little more time. Fissures are starting to form. A little more pressure, and there will be a fucking landslide."

"Just make sure you're not one of the people who gets crushed underneath," Cynthia reminded him.

POPE & ASSOCIATES

Harrison had asked Olivia flat out if she had talked to someone either in the media or among her clients to launch this strike against Patty. She had responded so vehemently that she'd had nothing to do with it that he'd believed her. Olivia had been on defense for so long, he'd been amazed she hadn't tried to fight back sooner. She knew better than anyone how these wars were won. So when she told him that she hadn't authorized CNN's little project, he knew she was telling the truth.

This presented him with a very troubling idea. Someone Olivia knew had decided to lend a hand without her asking for it. There were a lot of people who might have done this for her- she had chits with every media outlet and half the players in D.C. So why was it that Harrison was certain that the person who'd been their guardian angel was Cyrus Beene?

Olivia's relationship with the President was the giant mastodon in the room, every time they dealt with their clients. When you manage to get the President's affair with an intern off the front page, you have street credit for years. The fact that less than a year ago, the Grant Administration had made it their personal mission to destroy Olivia did nothing to allay Harrison's surety that it had been someone there; "What have you done for me lately?" was the most common phrase out of anybody in the Beltway's mouth. So it was possible that someone in the administration had done this in the interest of paying back a gigantic I.O.U. And it was likely that no one had bothered to tell Olivia because she would've just given a flat 'no' when she was told about it.

The problem was that Cyrus Beene never did anything without there being something in it for him in the end. He would do nothing out of the goodness of his heart, because Harrison was pretty sure he'd had his surgically removed at birth. No, he would've had it done because he considered Patty Hewes to be a threat to the administration. The fact that Hollis Doyle had been one of Grant's biggest contributors was enough to make Harrison even more certain that there might be some kind of connection.

He had not told anybody at the office this, because he didn't want Olivia to give another non-denial denial, and besides, there was a very good chance he could be subpoenaed about this very issue. More to the point, he was nervous because he was pretty certain the worst thing you could do is put Patty Hewes on the offensive. She might've gone quiet for the last twelve hours, but he was certain that she was planning a vicious counter-attack.

His fears were justified that evening when she went on Lawrence O'Donnell. Patty usually used Fox for her remarks, but even her personal politics were somewhat to the left of Arthur Schlesinger, it had been a friendly place for her for the past five years. Appearing on MSNBC was a direct counter-assault to the media that had slurred her just a day earlier. It might also be a not-so subliminal message to who she thought her real enemy was.

"Frankly, given the record of our last couple of meetings, I'm a little amazed you showed up," O'Donnell began the interview/

"You know me, Lawrence, I don't run from a fight. And whoever was responsible for yesterday's mud-slinging clearly wants one."

"There have been a lot of serious charges laid against you," O'Donnell started. "Are you prepared to answer them?"

"I have nothing but respect for the people who basically accused me of everything short of making Jimmy Hoffa disappear," Patty assuaged her audience. "They are entitled to loathe me and bear grudges, and there are a lot of things that I have done over my career that I'm not proud of. That said, all of them are little more than straw men for those in the corridors of power, who I'm going after in my current action against Olivia Pope and Cytron."

This was going to get ugly, Harrison thought as he watched.

"What are you saying? That Virginia Fiske and your ex-husband were being used by other people?"

"Olivia Pope is one of the most powerful people in Washington D.C. And Hollis Doyle, the CEO of Cytron, is one of the wealthiest men in the world and has been backing politicians on both sides of the aisle for decades. Their jobs, particularly Miss Pope's are to win the game by changing the story. That's what happened yesterday. An incredibly well-organized deflection."

And in the space of three minutes, Patty had just managed to organize another one. Even as Harrison watched, a small part of him couldn't help but admire how good she was at this.

O'Donnell had to know what was going on, and didn't intend to just be another straw man. "Assuming that's the case, what exactly are you accusing Pope and Doyle of? You've made a lot of comments in the press, but they've been lacking of substantial evidence."

"Both of our defendants have managed to do a superb job of withholding information from the public," Patty admitted. "But it doesn't take much to realize that they are guilty of conspiring to cover up eight homicides."

"Are you accusing these people of murder?"

Patty took her time before her answering. "Lindsey Dwyer was accused of the bombing. She disappears off the face of the earth, only to resurface as Quinn Perkins a few months later. When her ruse is discovered, Olivia Pope provides a high-priced defense attorney, who manages to manages to win the case without having to put on a defense. And after weeks of discovery, we find the reason that the case was dismissed was because the presiding judge was asked for a favor by Associate Justice Verna Thornton."

And just like that, Patty had managed to imply that the current administration might have had something to do with it. It wasn't ironclad- Grant believed in separation of powers more than some of his predecessors had- but the fact was Thornton had been their appointee to the bench, and it was pretty much public knowledge that Pope had been one of the people responsible for getting her there.

"That's a very dangerous accusation to make of a suspect who can no longer defend herself," O'Donnell was probably echoing half the people in the audience.

"Do you not find it suspicious that the Justice died mere minutes before she was going to be forced to answer those very questions?" Hewes replied.

"Are you accusing these people of murder?"

"I have no evidence one way or the other. But it's a very fortuitous coincidence. And litigators are trained not to believe in them."

Harrison wasn't either. And he knew Olivia didn't have it in her to even talk about the death of a friend. Hollis Doyle, though - he'd throw a drowning man both ends of a rope. So why was Liv, even by doing nothing, working so hard to keep him out of prison?

"How high do you believe this conspiracy may go?" O'Donnell asked.

"I have no clear idea," Hewes admitted, "but the fact that so many people are accusing me of so much, makes me think someone in power is very nervous about this."

It wasn't right that Harrison agreed with Hewes. The interview went on a few more minutes, but Hewes was smart- she stopped just short of naming anybody in the Administration as being a target. She didn't have too.

Well, not enough people watched MSNBC, so there was a chance that the President hadn't seen this interview.

THE OVAL OFFICE

"Why the hell have you been keeping me out of this?" the President was demanding.

Cyrus' elation at how thoroughly smeared Patty Hewes' name had gotten hadn't even lasted a single news cycle. In retrospect, he now realized he should never have broken his rule on having Sally Langston help him with anything. There was always blowback, and now he was about to bear the brunt of it.

"I kept you out of it, Mr. President, because no good can come of being involved in this," he started.

"Olivia worked for us! We're already involved in this. The moment Patty decided to sue Olivia, it was a matter of time before we ended up in her crosshairs!" President Grant was royally pissed. "Never mind the fact that it looks like Verna was involved in the most blatant abuses of power someone who wears the robe can do!"

There was no sugarcoating any of this. Only bluntness was going to work with his boss right now. "Patty Hewes has been doing this longer than either of us. She knows how to play politics just as well. Mid-terms are in a month; she knows if we get into a street fight with her, she's going to make us even more vulnerable, and make us look worse."

"You think I don't know what she's capable of?" the President told him. "I got a dozen calls the day I came into office. Half wanted me to sic the Bureau on her; the other half wanted her to be my Attorney General."

It might have made things easier if the President had done either of those things, Cyrus thought but didn't say.

"Now I've got people from Justice telling me to find out what the hell her real target is, and I don't even know what she's shooting at!" The President now looked at Cyrus.

"This is bullshit, Mr. President, and you know it is. Hewes has been investigating Cytron for months, and every time someone asks her what her class action is about, she keeps changing her story." This was only a slight exaggeration, but Cyrus had no intention of revealing how nervous this woman was making him.

"Cyrus, I know how big a contributor Hollis was to getting us here, but one thing is abundantly clear: he knows more why about those eight people were killed than he's letting on." The President demanded.

"Sir, believe me when I tell, you don't want to tell Hollis what to do," Cyrus said with as much as sincerity as he could muster.

"Much as he wants to ignore the fact, Hollis cashed in the last of his IOUs around the time he made obscene comments about your husband," Fitz looked at him. "He may have had a lot of goodwill with us, but he used it up along time ago. Now, it's time that he remembers that he is a citizen like anybody else."

This was probably the last thing he wanted to hear, leapfrogging over "Russia has launched a pre-emptive strike," and "Mellie's decided to leave me." "Sir, Hollis is in a position where he can say and do a lot of damaging things to us. He's never been much of friend, but the last thing we need is him going off the reservation," Cyrus was now making the understatement of the year.

"Patty Hewes doesn't tackle the government. She knows we can't pay our bills. He flashes enough money at her, she can declare victory and get off this damn witch hunt."

"May I remind you what she did to Arthur Frobisher? It wasn't enough to take two billion dollars off the man; she sent him to prison for murder. Hollis knew half the clients whose scalps she goes after; he's not going to let himself be one of them."

The President considered this seriously for a moment. "Well, what are supposed to do? We can't keep deflecting him forever. And at some point, it may come down to Hollis or her. And you know whose side I'm going to go for in that particular arrangement."

Cyrus did know that. How long Fitz would keep doing that when he learned what Olivia Pope was actually being targeted for was another matter; one which he really didn't want to consider right now, because it would mean he was also about to become another one of Hewes' scalps.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," was all he would say. "In the meantime, Justice has already started an investigation. Let's see if they'll find something that can help make the decision for us."

"She was supposed to make this go away, Cyrus."

He'd been dodging Hollis's calls for the last week, so he had to give the man credit for finding a way to call using a doctored ID. "I really wouldn't lecture me on how to do things the right way, Hollis," Cyrus replied. "Right now, the President is one phone call away from wading it, so I would tread carefully, if I were you."

"But you're not me. And a good thing. You wouldn't last ten minutes handling my problems."

Cyrus had been shocked on how blatantly pissed Olivia had been at the man she had spent two years trying to negotiate around. Now he was starting to wonder if her attitude was the only thing this well-dressed redneck might understand. "Really? Was one of your decisions to kill Verna?"

The question that had been playing around his mind ever since Justice Thornton had been found in her hospital bed had enough potency to shock even Hollis into silence for a few seconds. "I'd be very careful of what you accuse me of, boy," he said in a voice that didn't have even a trace of good-ol-boy in it.

"There were five people in the room when we made that decision. But I know goddamn well how quick-draw you get when there's a chance things are going to get hot for you.." Now that he had gone down this path, he fucking well was going to follow it.

"Things were already hot for me. Case you haven't noticed, they pretty much turned on the barbecue when Verna died. Why in the name of God would I kill her before she had her chance to fix this?"

Cyrus was an expert at reading peoples voices, and even though he'd never been very good at figuring out what Hollis was going to do, in this instance, he honestly believed that the man was telling the truth. "Then I think we've got another in a very long line of problems." he told him. "Because I have a copy of Verna Thornton's autopsy, and according to it, she was given enough morphine to kill a person three times her size."

There was a long pause as Hollis considered this. "Then who decided to fuck us over?"

_6 Weeks Earlier_

_"You're absolutely sure about this."_

_"This woman holds the fate of the government in her hands. I can't allow her to expose it in some kind of deathbed confession. Besides, at best she's got another month. This is more mercy than she deserves."_

_"All right. We'll make it happen. But after this, lose my number. We've done far too many favors for you already."_

_"Just get it done."_

_Mellie Grant ended the call, then threw the phone in the Potomac._

OFFICES OF OLIVIA POPE

"I'm getting really tired of people offering to help me, Cyrus. That was what the last couple of newscycles were about, right?" Olivia demanded of her one time mentor.

"I've already had my ass reamed by the President and Hollis Doyle, Liv. If you're going to insult me, try and speak a lot plainer."

"Patty Hewes loves it when the people she's aiming at shoot back, do you not get that? "

"Well, maybe I'd feel safer if we knew what the fuck her end goal was."

"Her end goal is to see people in power brought low. Now, based on everything she's thrown at me the last three months, she still doesn't think this is anything bigger than a corporate conspiracy abusing political power. We need to shut her down before she starts to smell how big this thing really is."

Cyrus took this in. "What kind of message are you sending?"

"Tell Hollis to come up with an explanation on what Alex Hutton was looking into. Anything other than what it really was. Tell him to make this revelation on Fox News before Patty Hewes can dig any further. Have him offer a reasonable settlement to the families, even if it's ninety cents on the dollar. We all know that he can afford it. That will gut Patty's class action before it gets any further."

"Why don't you tell him yourself?"

"He doesn't think I'm important enough to talk to. He'll listen to you."

Cyrus considered this. "What about Rosen's investigation? What about Congress?"

"With the lawsuit gone, you can say it's more partisan divisiveness in an election year. That's what half of Congress thinks anyway. And tell the Attorney General that he should have a leash on the people who work for him."

This was the kind of abuse of power that Olivia had frowned on throughout her career prior to joining the Grant campaign and as press secretary. The fact that she was arguing for it right now smacked of just how desperate she was. Cyrus couldn't blame her, considering he felt the same way.

"And this will stop Patty Hewes?"

"This will change the story. With the settlement, Patty's reasons for suing go out the window. She looks like the kind of person she actually is, and she'll have no reason to look into our dirty laundry any longer."

Olivia had given a lawyer's answer. They both knew that very little was going to stop Patty. All they could do was slow her down enough to cover their tracks.

HEWES & ASSOCIATES

For the second time in less than two days, the news cycle was going against Patty. Hollis Doyle had gone on Fox News, and had told the world, that while he bore no responsibility for the eight deaths in the Cytron, his empathy with and compassion for the victims compelled him to do the right thing. Therefore, he was offering a settlement of 330 million dollars to the families of those afflicted- a figure that was just a shade below the actual amount Patty had sued for.

Patty's clients were inclined to take the offer - some of them didn't need the money, and this was probably as close to an explanation as any of them would get. Ellen had watched her very closely- the last time she'd seen her clients this enthusiastic about the offer, it had been at the Frobisher case. Her reaction had been to fire Tom. Ellen was now convinced that there had been something going on behind the scenes that she had missed with the action, but she wouldn't have been surprised if history repeated itself.

"What's the plan, Patty?" she asked as she came into the office.

"Doyle made things exceptionally difficult for us to maintain our clients devotions to the cause," she admitted. "Three of the clients want to accept the settlement. Two more are wavering."

"So how do you end to stop them from taking it?"

"I'm not."

Ellen had to ask Patty to repeat herself. "What condition did you attach?" she asked when she was convinced she was hearing right.

"That he turn over all security footage in the twelve hour period immediately preceding the attack," Patty admitted.

"How quickly did he turn you down?"

"He didn't. I imagine whoever he answers to want to make sure this goes away as quickly as possible.

"There's no way that he'd agree to it unless he'd already doctored it to make sure the parties responsible never get caught."

"Hollis Doyle is many things, but a expert at doctoring videos isn't one of them. He'd have to source it out to somebody, and nobody's perfect."

"The police and the FBI have already been over all of that footage, and have come up with shit. What do you expect to find that they won't?" Ellen demanded.

"I'm not the one who's looking through the footage."

Neither Wes nor Huck trusted the other one to do their jobs, each of them knowing that the other was answering to a master who wanted the opposite result to this case. Neither had left the room in the past six hours, and neither had dared show anything even resembling tiredness. They hadn't exchanged two words in that entire time. Speaking for himself, Wes couldn't think of a more ineffective way for two people two exchange information They couldn't even claim to have the same goal in mind, as Wes was convinced that 'Huck' would take whatever information he found to Olivia, completely circumventing Patty's efforts.

Wes, therefore, found that he was going over every inch of footage before and after Huck did. He figured that this was an exercise in futility considering who Huck's previous and current employers were, and what he would have to do to maintain proficiency. Which is why when Huck finally said a complete sentence to him, he was more than inclined to take it with a grain of salt.

"Could you come over here?"

Reluctantly, Wes left his footage and walked over. "What am I looking at?" he asked. A stupid question if ever he had heard one. For the last six hours, they'd been looking through Alex Hutton's office. There'd been a lot of people going in and out, but no one who shouldn't have been there.

"The clock," was all Huck would say. They had to go over the footage three times before Wes saw it for himself. The time stamp read 3:37 A.M. , but the clock in the background read 3:40. The readout remained the same for thirty seconds. Someone had clearly doctored the footage, but had neglected to change the clock.

They spent the next hour filtering those three minutes. Using methods that Wes was pretty sure would be illegal even in the CIA, they managed to reveal a figure entering the office, leaving something behind before exiting. Whoever it was smart enough to know to never look at the camera.

When Wes showed this to Patty, she was as close to overjoyed as she got. "Hasn't Doyle already cut the victims a check?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter. The fact that this footage had been doctored means that Doyle lied about not bearing any responsibility for the attack." Ellen told him. "Effectively, this voids his settlement offer. It's also something that Justice is more than entitled to know about."

"Draft the paperwork. I'll contact David Rosen." Patty looked at Wes. "Any idea who our mystery man is?"

"Not a fucking clue," Wes hesitated. "But I'm pretty sure that Patty's guy, Huck, he looked like he had a good idea. Not that he was going to share it with me."

"You're sure? He never looks at the camera."

"It's Charlie, Olivia. I'm positive of it," Huck told his boss.

"But how would Hollis Doyle even know about him?"

Huck took a very long pause. "There's a good chance Hollis isn't the one who employed him."

Olivia took an even longer pause. "What are you trying to say?"

"Cyrus used Charlie to put Amanda Tanner in the middle of the Potomac. I'd say there's an excellent chance this wasn't his first job for him."

Olivia Pope was a hardened operative, but she still needed a minute to fully accept the fact that the man who she considered one of her closest friends was capable of this kind of ruthlessness. "Is Charlie even on Patty Hewes' radar?"

"As far as I know, he isn't."

"Then you make goddamn sure that he never does."

_Six Weeks Later_

_Washington D.C._

_"All right. Make sure the Speaker is there. He's going to want to hear what I have to say." David was saying over the phone. "Yes, it is as big as he thinks. Bigger, in fact."_

_Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll be there in ten minutes." David hung up, and got to the door, but not before he reached to pick up the handgun he'd purchased a month ago._

_He looked through the peephole, and didn't see anyone. His suspicions already aroused, he backed away. But then the doorknob turned, and the lock was unlatched._

_David raised his weapon, but before he could fire, the door opened, and he was hit with a blast from a taser. "Fucking amateur," Charlie said as he eyed the prone body of the U.S. Attorney._

_He shut the door, and locked it. Time to go to work._


	9. She Didn't Vote For You

Chapter 9

She Didn't Vote For You

WASHINGTON D.C.

_Wes had been following Homicide for the last several hours, hoping that they would come up with some kind of solid evidence. But in actuality, the complete lack of evidence did more to confirm what had happened than anything else._

_One of two people had killed David Rosen. One of them was ex-CIA; the other was, for all they knew, still on the payroll. Those kind of people didn't leave trails; the fact that one was there meant that it was done to lead the police down the wrong path. Wes had chased feds before, but spooks were a different paygrade altogether. There was only way to catch one was if you had help, and he had no idea how to find this guy._

_Just then, his phone rang. There was no ID in the readout, and he had no way to trace the call. Nevertheless, he answered._

_"You're wasting your time with the cops."_

_The voice was scrambled. Wes knew who he was talking to anyway. "You should know."_

_"Patty contacted me an hour ago. She's come to an arrangement with some important people."_

_"I seriously doubt that," Wes reminded him._

_"If you want to find David Rosen's killer, I have a good idea where he'll be and when."_

_"Why not tell the authorities?"_

_"We both know why. The law will not punish these people."_

_"Patty seems to think otherwise."_

_The speaker actually seemed to consider this. "Do you want Rosen's killer or not?"_

_"He's a rabid dog. Who sicced him on us?"_

_"You don't want to know."_

_"We're going to find them. With or without you."_

1 Month Earlier

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C.

David Rosen had just seen the footage that Patty had shown him. "Well, this is enough to get Doyle on conspiracy charges, at least," he told her. "I assume there's some way that you can figure out who the figure is."

"We've spent the last week trying to clear up the images. We're lucky that we have this much." Patty explained.

"In other words, we know that Doyle conspired with someone, but we've no idea who."

"Granted criminal law has never been my greatest strength, but I'm pretty sure that you can call that guy an unindicted co-conspirator, and run from there."

"But there's nothing to connect him to Olivia Pope. From everything I received in discovery, she and Hollis have never worked together in any private case."

There was never going to be a better opportunity. "That's not entirely true."

David had known this was coming for quite some time. "You think this has something to do with the Presidency," he asked.

" Citizens United has made it a lot harder to glean this kind of information, but Doyle did contribute substantially to Grant for America. Olivia Pope left the administration because of what happened at Cytron, and then aided the escape of the main suspect. She wouldn't have done that unless someone in the administration knew something about it."

It was one thing to think about this; it was another to start calling for a special prosecutor. Still, he'd come this far. "The next link in the chain is the White House Chief of Staff," David told her.

"I've gone after big fish before, but even this is a little above my paygrade," Patty admitted. "Unfortunately, federal law couldn't be clearer: you can't go after the White House in a civil action."

"Since when has that stopped you?" David blurted out.

"I'm trying to prepare you for what's going to happen next,." she told him. "You know what the media did to Kenneth Starr. And he had incontrovertible evidence. All we have is circumstantial evidence. nothing even resembling a causative link."

David knew this was going to be an incredibly hard case, and he didn't have much in the way of rabbits to pull out. Hollis Doyle was connected to Cyrus Beane, Cyrus Beane was connected to Olivia Pope, but that didn't mean there was one between Cyrus Beane and Cytron. Even if there was a link, Cyrus Beane was smart enough to put up a firewall between him and any number of people before they found it. But when he had started this chase nearly a year ago, he knew that he was going to have to take shots at big fish; he wasn't going to scare off now that he seemed on the verge of landing Moby Dick.

"The obvious thing to do is show Doyle what I have, and offer him immunity from prosecution if he gives up his fellow conspirators," he finally said. "Unless I absolutely have to, I'm not going to play that card."

"Good to know we're on the same page," Patty reminded him. "Unfortunately, without Doyle, your best evidence comes to a blur on a video camera. Even if Hollis gets a cheap lawyer, he can find a way to weasel out of it. I've been at it four months, he could hold you off longer. What about Pope?"

David shook his head. "Wright's good, and the rest of her people have been loyal. I think you're taking a risk trusting Volk, but as far as I can gather, I don't know if anybody in her office actually knows the full details of what she did. If he doesn't know-"

"He doesn't. Pope's playing this very close to the vest. I'd be surprised if anybody in her office knew the full details of what she's doing. On anything."

"Frontal attack won't work, and they can handle a full-court press." David pondered this for a moment. "What if we tried using the media to get to them?"

"The White House has rooms devoted to spin, or did you miss the shitstorm two weeks ago?"

"You just chose the wrong source. I know someone who will hit these people where they live."

WASHINGTON POST

James Novack knew that returning to work in a medium that even the most avid supporters admitted was in its death throes was not the safest career path. When he had told his husband that he was going back to work, he'd continued his method of casually insulting him. Three days ago, when he had told Cyrus not to wait up for him, his retort had been: "I won't have to. The newspaper industry will be dead before I get home." A heavy-handed riposte, but as always there was a grain of truth in it.

There was a very good chance that his entire return to journalism was probably borne out of a desire to fill a hole in his life that Cyrus had no interest in filling. When he had gotten married to Cy two years ago, he'd managed to stay clear of all the bile-soaked attention that had come from the fundamentalist branch of the country. He'd managed to maintain a level of calm, only because he knew his husband was a member of the political party so many of those creeds were coming from, and he had to keep them as friends in order to do his job.

However, he had not been able to ignore a more in-depth editorial from the _Boston Globe. _They didn't believe the marriage would work- not because they were insults to humanity, but because his personality did not mesh with Cyrus'. 'As a fan of Mr. Novack's writing, I find it hard to fathom that just an aggressive, formidable personality will be forced to play second fiddle to one of the most powerful men in Washington. The careers of Washington spouse's are traditionally devoured by the one in the public eye; I see no evidence that this will change if both the parties in the marriage are of the same gender."

The writer should've gotten a Pulitzer for that kind of insight. It was bad enough to be the symbol of gay marriage in an administration that seemed determined to ignore the issue; it was even harder when the man he was married to showed no desire to do anything resembling being a husband. Cyrus was damn sure to limit the number of social functions the two of them, and when he did, he did everything to prevent him from learning anything about what was going on.

This would've been bearable if Cyrus would've at least considering honoring some of the private functions of the institution of marriage. And he wasn't willing to do that, either. He never confided about any of the major problems he was going through, and he had unilaterally shut down any of James's attempts to try and adopt a child. When he had told Cyrus how stir crazy he was going at home, he had been admonished that his job was harder; when he had tried to go back to work, he had been told that he was distracting Cyrus from his own career. Frankly, James was amazed their marriage had lasted two years, considering half the time, both of them wanted to kill the other one.

He had tried to have a certain amount of sympathy, considering that he would've known, even if he hadn't been married to Cyrus, just how hard it was to be Chief of Staff; it had to be harder still when scandals seemed to be rocking the administration every ten minutes. But sympathy only went so far, considering that the man he was married seemed to have been born without it.

So, a month ago, James had accepted the realities of the world he'd lived in, and decided he'd rather be working in a dying field rather than have to endure being known simply as Cyrus' gay husband. Besides, D.C. was one of the few places where there was always enough news to keep you occupied, especially in an election year.

Midterms were little more than a month away, and the Administration looked like it was going to be suffering through the net loss than any administration feels at the midpoint of it's first term. Of course, it didn't help that three separate Senate candidates had already dropped dramatically when they had alienated the women's vote by making comments having to do with 'legitimate rape'. (Even knowing politics as well as he did, it amazed James that somehow none of these events had been coordinated.) Eight extreme right candidates were arguing that the President was a dove on defense; eleven extreme left candidates insisted just as firmly that he was a hawk. And just to add a little more crazy, two House Democrats and one Senate Republican were launching investigations charging 'ethical abuses' of the Grant Presidency. In other words, a normal election cycle for the U.S.

None of which gave James any help in writing his next column, considering that his 'inside source' had made it quite clear he wasn't going to comment on anything related to any of the candidates. Well, he had said they were all 'driving him apeshit', but the Post was still a family newspaper, and besides, everybody knew that.

Consequently, he was still trying to figure out how to fill in his column when his phone rang, and David Rosen was on the other end, asking if he was interested in a story about an open investigation.

As frustrated as James was about both his career and his marriage right now, the last thing he wanted to get involved in a story that wouldn't even make the subheading of page 5. Then Rosen told him that the man he was investigating was Hollis Doyle, a man who had, in his presence, called him a fairy.

Honestly, James had been called far worse by far more unenlightened people. And he was not a fool. There were at least a dozen other reporters he could've called that might give this story far more exposure. Rosen was calling him to get dirt on the man from Cyrus. He said as much to him.

"A major political figure is guilty of criminal conspiracy, that has led to multiple homicides. This person has connections to the President. Why are you eager for this story to go to CNN?"

Almost against his will, James admitted he had a point. This was a juicy story. People were going to cover it whether he was involved or not. Not to mention that the _Post _would can him if they found out that he had let an inside look on a big story slip through his fingers. So what if he was being used? Using and being used came part and parcel living in the Beltway.

"When do you want to meet?"

"You really should be careful who you call," Olivia told the President. "I'm practically radioactive. For all I know, someone at Justice has cloned my phone."

"You don't really believe that, Liv," Fitz told her. "You're just trying to protect me."

"Mr. President, I'm not doing a very good job of protecting myself and my people. I can barely afford to worry about you."

Fitzgerald Grant knew that Olivia was, as she almost always did every time he called here, trying to protect him from some unknown. He would offer to help; she would assure him she was fine, he would repeat the offer, she would tell him that the leader of the free world couldn't afford to worry about a former employee... he and Olivia had been doing this dance for so long, he could practically see every move minutes before it happened.

The difference was, this time, he could see how deep the damage was, and, for once, he wasn't the cause. He didn't know who the hell she was trying to protect. God knows, he'd push Hollis Doyle in front of a bus rather than sit through one more lunch with him.

"I know you wouldn't want me to do anything involving Justice, but maybe I could just, have a conference call with Patricia Hewes. Make her see reason."

"Mr. President, that's probably the worse possible thing you could do," she told him. "For starters, she didn't vote for you, so I'm doubting that she would be inclined to do you any favors. And second of all, the minute the conversation was over, she would call a press conference, and said you were trying to bully her into dropping it. Whether you had or not."

"I'm the President, not Walter Kendrick."

"There are maybe a dozen people in the country who would lie about what the President said in a private meeting. Patty Hewes is one of them, and you know that."

The President knew this was true. And even if she didn't, Patty Hewes had dined with four of the last five Presidents; the Oval Office held no sway over her

"So there's nothing that I can do to help?"

There was a much longer pause than normal. "Don't worry about me, Mr. President. There are far more important things , foreign and domestic, to worry about then the fate of a former employee."

Olivia was diminishing herself again, as she had dozens of times before over the last three years. "All right," he told her reluctantly. "Just don't forget that I'm always in your corner. And I always will be."

In less than three weeks, that statement would permanently be repudiated.

The investigation into the Cytron was already a big news story, and James knew enough that Patty Hewes didn't fish for minnows. But after sitting down with her and David Rosen for an hours, he could see why they didn't want to bring this before a judge. They were attempting to prove a link between the White House and the bombing with little more than shadows and fog. The story was a good one, but it had no support.

"My industry may be on the verge of obsolescence, but we're not desperate enough to start publish fiction," he told them.

"You don't believe the administration is involved in this," Patty started.

"What I believe is irrelevant. I'm not in the jury pool. But yes, for the record, I find it hard to believe that the government that could never deliver the mail efficiently could conspire to have eight people killed because..." He trailed off.

"Finish the sentence," David asked.

"Why don't you? You've spent months trying to prove that there's a conspiracy, but you seem remarkably blasé about proving what they're trying to cover up." James told them. "Stock market fraud? Industrial espionage? The moon landing? You go on the media outlets, say the government's guilty of something, and you get a week's worth of publicity because half of the networks believe you and want you to say more and the other half think your part of the problems. And it saves you from actually having to tell people what you suspect."

_There's the reporter who was considered the next Bob Woodward,_ David thought to himself. And he had brought up the point that he had been ignoring for the last month of the investigation. All of the evidence pointed that there was a conspiracy, but while he might know some of the players, neither he nor Patty had a clue what the game was.

"Now I know you wanted this interview because you want to make my husband jump, and you think this is the easiest way to do it," James replied. "That's what you people do."

"We barely know each other, so I'm not going to try and take offense..." David started.

"I'm talking about Miss Hewes. You may be a hero to all of the right kind of people because of what you do, but I've done enough looking into you to know that it's bullshit." Patty didn't react. "It's a shame you've got Cyrus in your bombsight; I think under other circumstances, the two of you would get along splendidly."

"Even given how we vote?" Patty replied.

"Actually, I prefer his methods. He's more direct than you. His ruthlessness is right out in front." James got up. "Now if you get something that resembles facts, I'll be more than willing to cover this story. Until then, this case has no more relevance than any of the shitty 'investigations' the Democrats are pulling the last month."

"Where do you think they got the information to launch their searches?" David asked.

"You can't be naive enough to believe those wing-nuts are doing those things to _help _you," James told them. "I've read the Congressional Record. There's one of those every six weeks. If anything, it makes it easier for me to dismiss this." He walked to the exit. "Don't write this off as a billing expense. There was no business conducted at this lunch."

Patty and David waited until he was gone. "Well, he took that better than I thought he would," she finally said.

"Now he knows what we do. His reporter instinct is going to pique his interest regardless." David replied. "And if I know how Cyrus Beane operates, he'll do the next bit of work for us."

The White House Chief of Staff might have been able to dodge a lot of his problems if anyone outside of D.C. believed his meek and calm facade was real. But every major insider knew how ruthless he was, so that every time he tried it, they knew it was bullshit, and went to attack mode. Cyrus Beane was successful in D.C. only because when _he _went on attack, he was as formidable as Tyson in his prime, and could in a matter of seconds, reduce some of the most powerful people in the world to shreds.

If he had regarded his private life in the same fashion he might have been able to hold up better. But the moment he got home and started to gently question James about his day, his husband could see what was coming through the Holland Tunnel. Cyrus had no use for niceties; he only asked about someone's personal life when he was trying to lull them into a false sense of security. And after going through his dance with Hewes and Rosen, James was in no mood to play polite even to the man he was married to.

"What is this about, Cy?" James asked almost immediately.

"I'd like to say I'm going through a particularly difficult time at work, except I can't for the life of me remember a time when it was easy." Cyrus got down to business quickly enough. "I, therefore, don't need any headaches from my husband having lunch with one of the people who is trying to fuck me, and the country, over."

_Note the order _James thought with a small sense of concern. "Whether you like or not, David Rosen is getting a lot of buzz from what he's doing," he told him calmly. "I think the majority of what he's doing is complete and utter bullshit, but then so are half the people in this town, and much as I'd like to pick and choose the people I deal with, my paper can't afford to ignore time with someone who is onstage right now."

Cyrus actually seemed to ponder this for a moment. "So you believe that this is partisan nonsense," he told him.

"I don't know about partisan, but it's definitely nonsense," James told them. "Frankly, I can't understand why you don't just ignore whatever the hell this guy is saying, and moving to dealing with fixing the economy or passing the Dream Act. Every time you acknowledge Rosen, you give him another newscycle, which is what he wants."

"Seriously, you think he's the one we should be worrying about?"

James couldn't tell if his husband was actually asking his advice on something, which would be a first. "I know my friends in the liberal media tend to lie down whenever her name is mentioned, but come on Cy, however noble her causes may appear, you don't think she actually _believes _in them?"

Cyrus actually seemed to relax a little at this. "She's a lawyer. A very rich, powerful, and destructive one, but she's still a lawyer. She only looks good because the people she chases down are generally as parasitic as her. Hollis Doyle is no different than Kendrick or Tobin. The only reason you're coming to this much grief is because he's contributed to your campaign. Why you don't just throw him under the bus is beyond me."

The President had brought up this exact point a few weeks earlier, and the fact was, he would consider it viable if he wasn't holding the cards he did. No, Hollis had them by the balls, and there was no way...

...actually, there was a way. A final solution, as it were. Frankly, if it had been any other person but Hollis Doyle, he would've considered it weeks ago. The fact of the matter was he knew too much.

Cyrus shook his head. Wishful thinking. Hollis Doyle _could _deliver mortal wounds to his administration if Hewes or Rosen got to him, but there were now too many eyes on him. His death would add weight to their charges. And even if they never found the assassin, the wrong people would begin asking questions. Olivia had resigned the White House because of Cytron; if Doyle were to suffer so much as a bad cold, she would probably make a full confession to the Huffington Post.

His hands were tied. Right now, he find a way to maintain equilibrium before things got any worse.

\

James had just about convinced himself that he could write this entire story off, when he got a message on his IPhone. It was from an unknown server. Frowning, he turned it on, and uploaded the video.

And froze.

It was footage of him at lunch with Hewes and Rosen. There was no audio, but after thirty seconds, it ended with a message. _Loose lips sink ships_. Tagged with an emoticon he'd never seen before.

A skull and crossbones.

_EXECUTIVE SUITE ALLEN DULLES HOTEL_

With all the investigative work now being done in D.C., and with the court date less than a month away, Patty had realized that she'd save a lot of time and energy by operating in Washington. Ellen, Wes and a half a dozen members of her staff- including her au pair- now occupied the fourth floor of one of the more expensive hotels in the city.

"There's certainly an argument for being in the private sector," David told them, as he sat down with them that morning

"It has it's perks," Ellen admitted.

"We need to be here, considering that you've just drafted the first round of subpoenas," Patty told them.

"It's less than three weeks from Election Day," David reminded them. "Almost every ally Olivia Pope has is going to have extra scrutiny on them from now on. This is the most vulnerable she's ever going to be. "

"Then we'd better land some serious shots," Patty told them.

"Have Wes and Huck made any progress on Quinn Perkins' laptop?" David asked.

Hollis Doyle had been smart enough to keep a lid on almost all of the raw data that Hutton had used before he'd been murdered. They'd finally made some progress getting their hands on it the last two weeks, but the encryption were proving a problem. Then Quinn had given them a lead. The day before he'd been killed, she'd had an argument with Alex about picking up her laptop from a private IT company. In the furor that had unfolded, she'd never dealt with it, and it turned out that he hadn't either. And apparently, the tech people had never put two and two together, and were still holding on to it nearly two years later

"They've spent the last day going through it with Miss Perkins," Ellen told them. "Most of the information was hers, but there was one file that she couldn't identify. It's password protected, and none of hers have been able to work."

"We have any idea what the file deals with?"

Ellen was about to answer when Patty's phone rang. She seemed only mildly surprised that she had received a text from James Novack, saying he wanted to see her in one hour at the third segment of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. No other explanation was given, but everybody in the room knew what it was about. Only David seemed surprised.

"I guess Cyrus Beene is more nervous than we thought," was all he'd say.

Considering that he'd sent the text, Patty was somewhat surprised that Novack was five minutes late for the meeting. When he showed, he bore all resemblance to one of those people you saw on the streets of Manhattan, muttering to themselves.

"What the fuck have you gotten me into?" he began without any introduction.

"As I recall, you chose not to get involved with our little story," Patty told him calmly. "This isn't a case of buyer's remorse?"

Novack showed her the footage, and the text. He told her he had already tried to backtrace the IP address, but had been sent down a technological nightmare. Not to mention the fact this had come as a hack to his private number, which less than a dozen people knew about.

"I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here," Patty replied.

"Who did you and Rosen tell about yesterday's meeting?" Novack demanded.

"Mr. Novack, a lot of people know about the case we're working on," she replied calmly. "It's not that hard to imagine that Doyle's people are monitoring us. He has government contacts throughout almost every agency in the alphabet soup. My head of security is relatively sure that my people are being tailed. Is it really that hard to believe that they'd be following us there?"

Novack took a deep breath. "Miss Hewes, I'm not going to bullshit you. Until last night, I thought what you and Mr. Rosen were doing was a waste of the taxpayer's time and money. Now, I'm beginning to think this might not be a paranoid nightmare."

"I suppose I should consider this a compliment.," Patty looked at him. "You want to go inside?"

Novack shook his head. "If these people are really working with the government, I don't know where we could go that would be safe. And you can forget about offering me protection; if Doyle's guilty of what you're accusing him of, he's not going to give a second thought about snuffing out a reporter."

Now was not the time to inform Novack that his husband might be one of the people doing the surveillance. He'd learn that soon enough.

"But if I'm going to be covering this story, you goddamn well better tell me the truth," he told her. "What do you suspect Hollis Doyle is trying to hide?"

"Mr. Novack, we've told you almost everything we know," Patty admitted. "The fact of the matter is, Mr. Rosen and I have been at this for several months, and we're still trying to get a handle on the player's involved. Aside from Olivia Pope and the late Justice Thornton, we have no idea whose involved."

"But you suspect it's someone in the White House. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come to me," Novack replied. "Who?"

Patty didn't answer directly. "Have you ever heard of something called Defiance?" she asked instead.

Novack shook his head. "What's that, some kind of CIA operation?"

"We don't know. But after weeks of combing through all the data, we know that before Alex Hutton was murdered, he was investigating something called Defiance. Whatever that was, it was clearly important enough to kill for."

Novack was clearly not convinced of this, but he agreed to do some research on his own. He made it clear that he was not going to ask his husband about it, or even consider that the Grant Administration was involved unless they could find independent confirmation.

Cyrus found out that his husband's second rendezvous with Patty a mere hour after it happened. He was beyond ballistic.

"Goddamn it! I thought I made it very clear that you were to quit following my husband!"

The man Cyrus knew only as Command shrugged. "We've been monitoring this situation for a while, Cyrus. Mainly because I'm not entirely convinced you're capable of doing what is necessary."

"I thought Hoover was the epitome of dickishness, but you make him look Eliot-fucking Ness."

"Don't get pissed at me for doing what you won't. Someone has to protect the country's interests."

There were many, many reason Cyrus couldn't stand this guy. "Hewes is already on high alert. One of her people catches you-"

"I think you're truly overestimating this woman's abilities."

Command was being dismissive. He didn't let this go. "I believe David Pell made the same mistake. You keep doing this, you might end up sharing his cell."

"Are you going to handle this or not? You've already let this situation get out of hand."

"Do not fucking lecture me. Or do I have to remind you who else goes down if I do?"

For the first time, Command shifted in his seat- the closest thing to a tell this government figure had shown in nearly thirty years.

"Besides, everything indicates Hewes and Rosen are spitballing. They've been trying to get to the bottom of this for months, and they're no closer the depths of this."

"You'd better hope so," Command told him.

Huck was becoming increasingly nervous about the work that Hewes was trying to make him do, and considering that he had worked six months defusing bombs in Kabul, that was saying something.

For once, though, the worry was about himself more than anything else. He knew how fortunate he had been to escape from the clutches of these people three years ago. There had probably been a 'shoot to kill' order in place for him ever since he had disappeared. Maybe, if Charlie was the one still working for them, they might just carry that out. He doubted it, though. There was such a thing as payback.

Charlie had been MIA ever since he had ordered him to disappear after Amanda Tanner's body had been recovered. Huck had made it very clear what would happen if the two of them ever met again under similar circumstance. All of the contacts he was aware of hadn't seen Charlie stateside ever since. That didn't mean he was gone, though; he was living proof that you could hide in plain sight.

He had done his best to keep Charlie out of the sights of Patty's people; the problem was, they were good. Somehow, they had identified him, someone who Olivia and her people had never known his real identity. And if they could find that, they could certainly figure out who Charlie really was, something _he'd _never known.

So when Wes Krulik came to him, and asked him for assistance accessing into the Agency mainframe, he was understandably uneasy. He knew, of course, that they'd have no luck doing it.; an expert hacker would need days just to get past the first level of firewalls. And it would be hard to find anything even remotely relevant; Doyle's company had no connection with this particular branch of the government. When he asked why they would even want to attempt such a desperate tactic, all Wes would tell him was: "Just a hunch."

These people weren't stupid enough to go with their guts, but he wasn't anywhere near close enough to them to be trusted. And even they did this right, they would be tracked down, which was the last thing any of them needed. So, reluctantly, he agreed to assist them, but not before demanding what he was looking for.

He was surprised that they told him, even though he'd had his suspicions that this had something to do with the White House. What shocked him was that they were certain Olivia was collaborating, when he was certain it was the opposite. But he also knew that she'd never willingly tell them what they were doing, so this might be the only way he'd find out for sure.

When you were a high-profile member of the White House, there was a certain level of surveillance that you got, whether you wanted it or not. Huck knew that it hadn't been uncommon for the Company to have members of its teams serve on Secret Service. He was appalled to learn that somehow Hewes had learned this through one of her connections, and was horrified to learn that one of them had a code name for someone doing so in the current Administration.

Moving with swiftness that he'd didn't know he possessed, Huck managed to access the Agency file that Wes wanted them to search. Because he had suspicions about what was going on between the President and Olivia, he did so very carefully. It didn't matter- after a few hours, he found what they were looking for. And then, he found out something even worse.

"Pope was put under surveillance the moment Grant took office." Wes reported after a very long night. "But even after resigning three months in, the scrutiny never stopped. Volk and I found data going on as recently as a month ago."

Under other circumstances, Patty would've been appalled. This kind of blatant spying was one of the things she held the most fervent opposition to in the previous administration. Now, however, she was in the unpleasant position of benefiting from it, though she knew that there was no way she could even think of using it in court.

"How deep does it go?" she asked, trying not to sound revolted.

"As far as we can find, they've been following her from her home and office. They've been tapping her cell service and her land line." Wes told them.

"Christ, and this woman is one of the Administration biggest allies." Ellen seemed even more disgusted than Patty was.

"It would take weeks to go through all their reports, so I scanned it looking for any threads that might help us. You don't need to know the how, but they have records of Olivia meeting with Cyrus Beene, at least a dozen times in the last few months."

"That's hardly earth-shattering, Wes," Patty told them. "She's been close friends with him for years. I'd be surprised if he didn't occasionally take advice from her."

"Even after she became poison? There are records of more than one clandestine meeting between her and Beene as recently as two months ago.""

Now Patty was interested. "Before or after Verna Thornton died?"

"Before. But it gets better. That last time they met, there's a record of someone else attending. Now they never name this person, but they use the code name Liberty. So I did some background checking." Wes took a deep breath. "Liberty is the Secret Service code for the First Lady."

Patty had been involved in some big cases before, but even she needed a minute to deal with this. "Can you date this meeting?"

"It was a week before Justice Thornton was murdered. Now we had to do a lot of work to get this intel, but there were two other attendees at this last meeting, one male, one female. What do you want to bet that the man was Hollis Doyle?"

Wes expected to be applauded. But Patty started to pale a little. "That means that somebody in the government knows whatever this little cadre was up to, and has been keeping it a secret."

The rest of them got at the exact moment. "What do we need to do?" Ellen asked.

"From now on, we have to assume someone in the government is monitoring our investigation." Patty told them. "Wes, sweep every room we booked. Anything that even looks like a bug, destroy it."

She ordered a couple of her more loyal underling to go to every cell store within a thirty mile radius, and buy no more than one disposable phone from each- the cheapest ones they could find, because they were going to toss them after five days. The government would eventually catch up with them, but they'd have to do it.

Ellen was to send a text to Rosen, and inform him that they were going to have to shift their strategy- this wouldn't involve much extra work from him, as he'd been ultra-careful about being followed from the start. Still, he was a federal employee, which meant there was even more of a chance that someone had eyes and ears on him right this moment.

She was going to get in touch with Novack. The abuse of power that was going on by this government was even more flagrant than she'd imagined. When he heard of it, the reporter would want to go to press immediately. She was going to convince him to hold off, under the absolute certainty that there was a bigger story than this.

Yet even Patty hadn't realized just how big this story was.

POPE & ASSOCIATES

"How long has the government been watching me?" Olivia was trying as hard as she could keep her voice level.

"They're probably trailing you right now," Huck told her. "You need to get your office and home completely swept.

"Who gave the approval for this?" Olivia demanded.

"I seriously doubt it's being done by the executive branch," Huck told her. "More likely this is probably someone deep within the intelligence community."

"Big Brother really is watching us," Abby was now truly frightened. "Why are they doing this? What purpose does it serve?"

"It doesn't matter," Harrison replied. "For that matter, we don't dare act as if we even know about it."

"You're really going to be a fucking lawyer about this?" Abby demanded. "Someone in the Agency is watching us. Has been since this business was founded. And last I checked, none of us were enemies of the state."

"The intelligence community has been doing this for a long time," Olivia said dully. "Fitz went after them in the primaries. My guess is that was enough for them to decide to start following us as suspicious."

Under any other circumstances, they would need a couple of minutes just to accept how horrifying the abuse of power that was going on truly was. It said something of their situation that this was actually their smallest problem right now.

"Patty knows who you've been consorting with. She may not be able to use it in court, but my guess is that won't stop her from trying to see where it leads," Harrison told them grimly. "She's one step from figuring this whole thing out. Which means that it's time you started talking."

Olivia realized the horror of her situation. Maybe there was something of her life that could be salvaged from this. If Cyrus found out about this- fuck, if he knew about it- she was practically in prison. If Hollis found out-

"What do we do?" They were still looking to her, and she no longer had the answers. All she had left was the truth.

"I think I need to tell them" she said.

"Liv, you do this, they could be called to testify-" Harrison started.

"They need to know. If they're to have any chance of protecting themselves, they need to know what this is about." She looked at Huck. "Make sure this room is clean, and then I'll tell you."

"About what?" Stephen asked.

"About Defiance."

_1 Month Later_

_"We're going to find who did this. With or without you." Wes paused. "Huck."_

_"You're in a big enough mess as it is. The last thing you need is to mess with these people."_

_"Everything they've done to you, and you're still defending them. Maybe Patty was wrong about you."_

_"I'm not defending them. I just know what they're capable of.." Huck took a paused. "I'd think you'd have realized that by now."_

_"I think you'd know by now that we don't scare."_

_What neither of the participants in the conversation knew was that, despite their best efforts, they were still being monitored. One of the Homeland Security people passed it up the food chain. Within ten minutes, the information reached the last person who should've heard it._

_"What do you want us to do, sir?"_

_"I'll handle it myself," Command told them._


End file.
